From Scams to Music, AI Voice Cloning Is on the Rise

An Arizona family was terrified a few months ago when what they thought was a kidnapping and ransom call turned out to be a total scam created by artificial intelligence. As reports grow of scam calls that sound identical to loved ones, many fear that AI could be weaponized to threaten people with technology that's easy to access and only requires a small fee, several minutes and a stable internet connection. Jennifer DeStefano received an anonymous call one January afternoon while her 15-year-old daughter was out of town for a ski race. DeStefano heard her daughter answer the phone, panicking and screaming, quickly followed by a man's voice threatening to drug and kidnap DeStefano's daughter unless he was sent $1 million, CNN reported. DeStefano was able to reach her daughter a few minutes later, who was fine and puzzled about what had happened, because she hadn't been abducted and wasn't involved in the ransom call.