In a first-of-this-scale AI heist, a scammer using deepfake technology walked away with more than $25 million from a Hong Kong firm. According to the , the scam involved the use of AI tools to create highly convincing fake videos and audio recordings, which were used to impersonate the company's chief financial officer and other employees during a video conference call. The scammers instructed an employee to transfer funds, which amounted to HK$200 million (US$25.6 million). Despite initial doubts, the employee was convinced by the presence of the CFO and others in the group video call and proceeded to make the transfer. The Hong Kong police are investigating; so far, no arrests have been made.
Deepfakes are not new, nor are they newly relevant. They are democratized tech that is becoming more accessible and easier to use every day. We are less than a year from what I've named "social production." Whatever you think social media did to media, that's what social production is going to do to production. Anyone with an idea will be able to describe it and see it realized by AI. Importantly, this may not be just a single LLM or other AI model. It will most likely be a stack of specialized AI models working in tandem as an autonomous agent. However it manifests over the next year or so, the outcome is clear: super-realistic deepfakes are here, and – in short order – will be indistinguishable from the subjects they depict.
As I have previously admonished, we must now .
As always your thoughts and comments are both welcome and encouraged. Just reply to this email. -s
ABOUT SHELLY PALMER
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named he covers tech and business for , is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular . He's a , and the creator of the popular, free online course, . Follow or visit .
