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Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

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Re: Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

#82
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah! So step 2 is wait for the spammers to automate blacklisting of Daisy phone numbers, and only then start rolling out a (paid) Daisy option to customers. Not connecting calls doesn't waste spammer money, but maybe Daisy does. If the big telco can find 10 righteous callers from a a bad actor telecom, they should keep routing the calls.

Then, once the spammers have blacklisted the Daisy numbers, cycle those spam-free numbers to their customers and start a new batch of Daisy numbers. This way, there is a constant flow of spammer free numbers being cycled into the pool. Of course, everyone and their dog wants your phone number, so you will have to be careful who you give it to if you want it to stay spam-free.

> Then, once the spammers have blacklisted the Daisy numbers, cycle those spam-free numbers to their customers and start a new batch of Daisy numbers.

This is actually genius. The spammers will have blacklisted all of their targets eventually.

Re: Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

#84

If you use a VoIP service like Twilio and voip.ms, you can set up a very simple IVR menu that just asks unknown callers to press 1 to be connected to you. No AI involved. For me, this has been surprisingly effective against robocalls. Obviously this isn’t going to work against scammers who call directly, but most of the spam calls I receive start with some pre-recorded message which isn’t going to pass the menu. Edit…

It's a great idea, and in Canada using the Koodo/Telus network you can turn on "call control" for free which does basically this, except it makes the caller enter a random number between 1-9. And you can also whitelist certain numbers like friends and family.

Re: Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

#85
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's ignore the real problem and distract the plebs by building some cute AI tool instead.

Would it help to know that > Influencer and reality TV star, Amy Hart, has worked with Daisy to produce a shocking video to show how she’s taking on phoney fraudsters

Wait, is a phoney fraudster an honest person?

Re: Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

#86

Of course, the scammers have created their own AI to call people and scam them so it's just playing catchup. It's like corporate avatars for hiring or cold call bots for sales. I'd say stick to white listed numbers, but pro phones can't do that, and they are the most prone to spam.

Great, the dead internet theory is being backported to landlines.

Re: Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> surprised there aren't any comments whining about this This is called a totem. You’ve invented or learned a caricature to rail at which may have once been based in truth, and from time to time again approximates it, though never with the fidelity you ascribe to the original. It’s commonly done by sides in partisan polarisation, the most common being a two-mode system that pillories its picture of the other. If you…

Nah, check the archive. I have no idea how they dress, nice "totem" though. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40043630

This is doubling down on “may have once been based in truth, and from time to time again approximates it.”

Analogy: phantom pain is pain in a limb that was once there but now isn’t. The limb was real. It probably felt pain. But when a patient imagines pain after the limb is gone, that’s the diagnosis.

Those comments are real. The people, probably, too. Responding to them when they aren’t in the room is a separate matter.

Re: Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

#88
post #65
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have already sorted the world between people you want to take calls from and people you don't, why wouldn't you just block the people you don't want instead of charging them money?

My attention is valuable. I should be able to sell it on my terms.

No way to vet the quality of your offering makes a both-ways attention economy fundamentally unworkable in a Western society. If you were really prepared to be an 'attention worker', then you could go work at a click farm or content moderation firm or the like, one of the fastest growing markets in the developing world.

Best I can offer you is an in-game bonus for watching an ad.

Re: Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

#89
This reminds me of “shadow banning” - instead of letting the misbehaving user know they’ve been banned, and let them find a way around it, you make them believe they’re not banned and let them waste their time interacting with the system (without actually interacting with others), this makes them spend less time on actual misuse and it makes the penalty for it more expensive. Good strategy. Cruel too.

So I don’t think that this is just entertaining PR, I can see why it’s better than simply banning the scammers. Still a question of cost though.

Re: Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

#90

If you use a VoIP service like Twilio and voip.ms, you can set up a very simple IVR menu that just asks unknown callers to press 1 to be connected to you. No AI involved. For me, this has been surprisingly effective against robocalls. Obviously this isn’t going to work against scammers who call directly, but most of the spam calls I receive start with some pre-recorded message which isn’t going to pass the menu. Edit…

My Pixel 8 (not sure what other Android phones do this) can screen calls using their AI assistant. It asks what the call is about. If they answer, it displays the text to you as it rings through. It sounds surprisingly human-like, even saying "Hello?" in a slightly annoyed tone when the other person doesn't respond in time.

that is a surprisingly awesome phone feature
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