Imagine someone who has lost the ability to communicate with a digital version of their own voice. By simply recording a short clip, researchers can use artificial intelligence and text-to-speech synthesis to create a near-perfect voice clone. But it takes even less time to imagine how fraudsters can exploit this technology to further their scams. On January 28, 2020, FTC staff will examine the consumer protection implications at You Don’t Say: FTC Workshop on Voice Cloning.
Think of the typical family emergency scam, where a scammer calls someone pretending to be a relative in distress. Or consider its shady corporate cousin: the CEO scam. At this time, the scammer pretended to be a company executive, called employees, and transferred money for so-called business purposes. These scams already steal millions of dollars from consumers every year. But what if fraudsters could use technology to replicate a real person’s voice?
You Don’t Tell will explore the many ways the technology can be actively used – in healthcare, entertainment and other consumer-facing applications – and May be misused. Panelists will consider the ethical issues associated with the use of cloned voices and the impact on the credibility of oral communications.
“You Don’t Say” will be held at the Federal Trade Commission’s Constitution Center Conference Facility, 400 Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC. This event is free and open to the public. We will also be live webcast starting at 12:30 ET on January 28th. Please follow the business blog and the You Don’t Say event page for agenda updates.
