Generation Fake: What Tech Professionals Need to Know
From fake news to fake personalities, fake tech products to fake reviews; counterfeiting, fraud and lies are a toxic part of the digital era. Many businesses rely on AI to prevent its spread, but AI can also be used to build entire fake worlds. Here’s what you need to know about keeping your business free from fraud.
THE RISE OF FAKE
Fake news has always been on the media agenda. From Shakespeare as propaganda for the royals of his time to German mastery of the media pre-WWII, but setting the agenda today can be done at the touch of a button. So, the rise of Donald Trump and other politicians looking to skew the agenda and promote fake news was always going to happen. It just needed the tools to influence millions or billions in one go.
Enter social media and user-generated content, and now any crazed agenda can look legitimate, lunatic views can be promoted as hard science, and a generation of fake personas rule. Using fake audio, fake photos and deep fake videos, who knows what to believe anymore? The situation is worse when smart people are just as likely to fall victim to fake news than those who slavishly follow any tabloid agenda.
For a business, the rise of fake news and fake social media actions is increasingly a problem. Competitors can post fake negative reviews about your products. Criminals can fake your website, apps or services and sell them as their own. While companies in verticals like medical and industrial sectors can be badly affected by general fake news in their field.
HOW FAKE CAN DAMAGE YOUR BRAND OR BUSINESS
When confined to the general social media streams and tabloid news, fake news might not seem such an issue. But, it only takes one person with an axe to grind or malicious intent to start posting fake reviews about your products, be they a business service or consumer item, to start tainting your brand. If your business or app competes with some less-scrupulous rival, they might hit it with fake reviews, just another example of the risks.
You might also get emails from scam and spam “marketers” offering to promote your brand, which can lead you down a rabbit hole of low-quality posts or outright extortion. Your staff need to know about fakes too, many businesses have inadvertently paid a fake invoice emailed over, or had their systems attacked by malware in the linked file. While, at worst, someone might wholesale clone your business or idea, taking it as their own.
Back to those fake reviews, they don’t even have to be about your product. Consider Amazon and other stores, where you will see no-brand, no-name clone products dominating lists sorted by review rating, thanks to thousands of fake reviews promoting them as better-than-genuine products.
For years, big brands from fashion labels to technology icons have been fighting a slow-moving battle against fake products and the reviews that come with them. But, as the pirates and fake reviewers move further down the value chain, their work can impact all sorts of businesses, possibly yours. And the cloners don’t just rip off products, but websites, artwork, music and business ideas.
Finally, the stores are taking action, with Amazon launch Project Zero to work to fight fake products, putting the onus on the faker to prove that their goods are real and not on the brand to prove that they are not, which currently takes too long, and it is easy for fakers to create new accounts or stores. But if those fake services, goods or reviews are popping up on other sites, you need to be ready to battle them.
EuroPol has some clear advice to avoid online fraudulent sales. Popular examples include sites offering what should be free or fixed-cost services, typically from governments like ESTA visas and health cards for travellers with a fat fee tacked on for their “assistance.”
HOW TO PREVENT FAKING WITH AI
Even a vigilant business can find it hard to cope with billions of sites, endless stores and other avenues for fakery and fraud. So, the technology world is turning to its new best friend, artificial intelligence to help track down and snuff out fakes.
Not just fake reviews, but fake audio and video, which could help save someone from reputational damage thanks to a new effort by Google using AI.
Facebook is constantly in the news about politicians, celebrities and fake actors putting up fake news or hate posts. The company is resorting to a range of AI tools and a new $25 million campaign to help remove them from our pages.
As antivirus software has moved on to encompass firewalls, anti-malware and email spam solutions, expect them soon to offer ways to locally block efforts at fraud and fakery on social media, using AI and cloud tools to identify harmful material. Banks and IT firms already offer a range of solutions to counter financial, tax, invoice and enterprise fraud. Like any good solution, your business should have a layered approach to protecting the business and staff from such risks.
SUMMARY
Whatever you think of fakes and scams, the risks rise for your business or products every day you make a post, launch an app or service, or try to sell online. Being prepared to deal with fakes, and knowing what to do if they start damaging your company reputation is just as essential as building insurance and having a data backup.
Being aware, and making everyone in your business responsible for learning about spotting and reporting fakes will help your business defend itself, as those risks increase. While getting access to AI tools to help fight the battle will be just as common as your email or cloud office service in the near future.
Every business should be aware of the risks and how to counter them. If you want to learn more about this topic, Or Levi will be at the Landing Festival Lisbon 2019 sharing his views on the subject. Don’t lose the opportunity to hear what he has to say. Buy your ticket now!
