An experienced researcher noticed something odd about a LinkedIn private message. Artificial intelligence has been used to create more than 1,000 LinkedIn profiles. NPR found that artificial intelligence profiles were used to lure in customers to buy a product, but that they were ultimately connected to a real salesperson. Fake profiles portrayed as trustworthy used average features. In some cases, though, there are irregularities like a missing earring or patchy hair. According to LinkedIn’s latest transparency report, the company has removed hundreds of fake profiles.
Here’s why you should care:
LinkedIn is inundated with connection requests from many profiles that seem suspicious, and it seems that this problem is only going to get worse. Artificial intelligence can create fake profiles to engage in and potentially extract confidential information using Deepfake technology to impersonate voices, videos and of course photos. I think it’s important to keep an eye on this.
