With the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation comes with it an increase of disinformation. Some of our most vulnerable groups are at risk: the elderly, the youth, and intellectually disabled. AI is a tool used to further the advancement of knowledge and development; however, it can also be used to disinform with ill-intent. There are several methods with the use of AI that can deceive people and with each passing day technology improves. That said, there are ways to protect yourself and your loved ones from AI-generated disinformation and sophisticated scams.
Access and Vulnerability
AI was first coined in 1956 by John McCarthy, a professor at Dartmouth College and in less than seventy years the accessibility of AI technology has surpassed many expectations. Anyone with access to the internet can utilize AI, whether that be through ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or DeepSeek. AI tools help to make scams, spam, and disinformation look substantial and therefore believable. ChatGPT can be used to post false job postings to gain sensitive information. Runway AI can be used to put out fake images or videos to give credibility in romance schemes. Even a simple “search” using Gemini could lead to receiving information that is untrue. For those who aren’t tech-savvy, it can be especially difficult to navigate through an increasing technology-centric and changing world.
The Risk of AI
There needs to be an emphasis on protecting our most vulnerable. The Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI) Internet Crime Compliant Center (IC3) reported that in 2023 scams targeting the elderly went up 14% and resulted in a 3.4 billion loss for victims. Elderly people tend to fall victim to scams that involved people pretending to be tech support, personal data breaches disinformation, and confidence/romance plots. Youth are at an even higher risk of being scammed through the increased usage of the internet. Younger adults are more likely to fall prey to online shopping scams, investment scams, and job scams. Intellectually disabled people are more likely to be victims of financial scams because of the lower abilities in cognitive systems. Overall, AI is increasing the risk of encountering targeted disinformation and convincing scams.
AI is not only affecting the general public but media sources and news outlets. AI has caused a radical shift on how the journalism world operates with many news and media outlets creating departments of fact-checkers to dispute disinformation. Compelling AI-generated images and videos, also known as deep fakes, gives credibility to false narratives and propaganda. AI tools are being used to spot circulating information that was created using AI. Although there are actions to combat AI-generated disinformation there is also complacency from prominent social media platforms that are accused of taking little to no action to curve false narratives. When it comes to stopping the spread of harmful indoctrination, significant burden rests on the individual to determine which sources to trust in the age of information.
How to Protect Yourself
There are steps a person can take to protect themselves and loved ones from becoming victims of AI-generated disinformation and scams:
- Educate yourself on common scams to stay vigilant.
- Reduce your digital footprint by making accounts private and removing sensitive information such as phone numbers and addresses from public domains.
- Ensure security software is up-to-date.
- Cross-check information with a reputable source.
Lastly, on a broader level, there needs to be a push for legislation to hold corporations, organizations, and powerful individuals accountable in their role in spreading disinformation. Implementing these steps will mitigate falling victim to disinformation and scams while staying alert in a ever-changing world.
References
FBI. (2024, April 30). Elder fraud, in focus. FBI.GOV.
Nguyen, S., & Fletcher, E. (2022, December 8). Who experiences scams? A story for all ages. Federal Trade Commission.
Han, D., Boyle, P., James, B., Yu, L., & Bennett, D. (2016). Mild cognitive impairment and susceptibility to scams in old age. Journal of Alzheimer’s disease: JAD.
Al Jazeera English. (2025, January 12). Artificial Intelligence accused of powering misinformation on social media. YouTube.