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Tuesday, June 20, 2023

AI and Taxes: A Critical Look at AI-Generated Software - Consumers are more likely to be victims if they have experienced significant negative life events

 Hyperdimensional Computing Reimagines Artificial Intelligence Wired 


Why it won’t be so easy for medicine to displace BMI STAT. See also New Tape Test: Here’s How the Army Is Measuring Body Fat Now Military.com 


Why are men seemingly always naked in ancient Greek art? aeon 

The journey of AI started in in 2015 with Ramez Katf 


Artificial Intelligence – Entering the world of tax




IEEE Spectrum: Coding with ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, and other AI tools is both irresistible and dangerous – “Most recently, OpenAIlaunched ChatGPT, a large-language-model chatbot that is capable of writing code with a little prompting in a conversational manner. 

This makes it accessible to people who have no prior exposure to programming. ChatGPT, by itself, is just a natural-language interface for the underlying GPT-3 (and now GPT-4) language model. But what’s key is that it is a descendant of GPT-3, as is Codex, OpenAI’s AI model that translates natural language to code. This same model powers GitHub Copilot, which is used even by professional programmers. This means that ChatGPT, a “conversational AI programmer,” can write both simple and impressively complex code in a variety of different programming languages. This development sparks several important questions.

 Is AI going to replace human programmers? (Short answer: No, or at least, not immediately.) Is AI-written or AI-assisted code better than the code people write without such aids? (Sometimes yes; sometimes no.) On a more conceptual level, are there any concerns with AI-written code and, in particular, with the use of natural-language systems such as ChatGPT for this purpose? (Yes, there are many, some obvious and some more metaphysical in nature, such as whether the AI involved really understands the code that it produces.) The goal of this article is to look carefully at that last question, to place AI-powered programming in context, and to discuss the potential problems and limitations that go along with it. 

While we consider ourselves computer scientists, we do research in a business school, so our perspective here very much reflects on what we see as an industry-shaping trend. Not only do we provide a cautionary message regarding overreliance on AI-based programming tools, but we also discuss a way forward.”


FTC releases spotlight on the top ten text message scams
  • Fake bank security texts top the list
  • Fraud complaints involving texts doubled in 2022
I(New Link) FBI warns scammers are taking photos and videos from the Internet, using technology to make them sexually explicit, and then demanding money unless victims send either money or more explicit videos
 
FBI IC3 gives updated report on Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud
  • Between December 2021 and December 2022 losses increased 17%
  • 277,918 incidents reported
  • Losses of $50,871,501
  • 27% increase in reports of BEC involving real estate; losses up 72%
  • Also seeing increase where funds sent directly to a crypto exchange
Listen to editor Steve Baker on the OneRep podcast talking fraud
 
Diplomat charges that North Korea gets 50% of foreign currency from cyber attacks
 
FTC information about the new Inform Act; online sellers need to provide contact information about online sellers, and ways to report suspicious activity like counterfeit goods

Interpol warns of worldwide increase in scam call centers kidnapping workers after luring them in with fake jobs
 
Consumers are more likely to be victims if they have experienced significant negative life events.  By Anthony Pratkanis

One factor that predicts vulnerability to fraud is experiencing negative life events.  In 2006, we surveyed confirmed victims of lottery and investment fraud (with matched controls) and found that victims were more likely to have experienced a recent negative life event such as loan foreclosure, money concerns, death of a spouse, unemployment, or serious illness or injury. This was the first study to investigate negative life experiences of confirmed victims.  The findings have been replicated numerous times including by the FTC in 2011 and again in 2017 and by AARP in 2021.

In our discussion of Myth #5, we noted that con grifters often seek those in desperation – that is, experiencing life stresses.  From the criminal’s perspective this makes sense.  Negative stress chews-up coping capacity.  The criminal can pitch a phantom solution to resolve the life stressor.  The con grifter can sympathize and gain a bond with the victim.

I developed the life stress hypothesis based on two reliable findings of social influence research: those relatively deprived are most vulnerable to extremist propaganda and negative life events are a predictor of recruitment into a cult.  The weapon in a fraud crime is social influence, involving social-psychological dynamics common to other undue influence situations.

Of course, not every fraud involves negative life events.  The criminal can pitch other phantom dreams as in a charity fraud or create negative events as in grandparent and ransomware schemes.  Nevertheless, these findings provide an important insight.  The con criminal can pitch a phantom solution to a victim’s problems, thus creating a trap for the victim who feels there is no place else to turn and, thus, may resist recognizing the crime – issues to be resolved by those seeking to intervene.
 
All myths collected here
 

Fraud Studies: Here are links to the studies I’ve written for the Better Business Bureau: puppy fraud, romance fraud; BEC fraud, sweepstakes/lottery fraud,  tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud, gift cards,  free trial offer frauds,  job scams,  online shopping fraud,  fake check fraudand crypto scams
 
Fraud News Around the worldHumor                                                                               FTC and CFPB  Virus Benefit Theft Business Email compromise fraud RansomwareData Breaches Bitcoin and cryptocurrencyATM SkimmingJamaica and Lottery FraudRomance Fraud and Sextortion
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