Welcome back humans.

Here’s what you need to know about AI today:

• Apple Vision Pro and AI, together at least

• Employee wires $25MM in deepfake scam

• AI generated fake IDs, Deepfakes & “Proof of Personhood”

#1 AI Meets AR in Apple Vision Pro

OpenAI's ChatGPT arrives on Apple Vision Pro, but that’s not the big story here.

The big story is that we’re at the beginning of merging AI and AR (augmented reality).

Apple launched the Apple Vision Pro _ days ago with Gen AI apps and the fanboys united.

It wasn’t just ChatGPT being in the app store that’s big news, it’s also Adobe’s Firefly, allowing users to create AI images via voice prompts.

The biggest use case, or the one that’s being touted in every outlet imaginable, is creating wall art for a virtual world that you might be creating.

Really, this development points to a future where AI could further enhance our digital and physical interactions.

Metaverse anyone?

Apple isn’t new to AI. Apple's Vision framework and AI technologies serve as foundational elements for enhancing functionalities across its product line.

The Vision framework actually gives developers advanced APIs for incorporating computer vision tasks, like face recognition and image classification, into applications making it that much easier to integrate AI into apps on the platform.

Not to mention, Apple's AI technologies underpin features like Siri and machine learning within apps, using neural networks to refine user interactions within the Apple ecosystem.

Together this bevy of AI will elevate the user experience, making it not just more intelligent but also more context aware.

💡 My take:

What we’re seeing is a step towards combining AI's informational capabilities with AR's immersive experiences, suggesting exciting future applications like for instance recipe suggestions from pantry scans. It’s a merging of worlds and information in a new way. Many thought that this was what the metaverse would become, and it still might. If you’ve ever tried to build a metaverse you know how painstakingly you have to create each and every aspect of the design, including selecting and sourcing simple things like wall art for your environment. While Adobe’s integration into the Apple Vision Pro is small its a sign at how easy AI will make to… well, produce our reality. More on this in the pod.

#2 Finance Pro Scammed out of $25MM

Ok, admittedly this story is nuts.

In a wild twist of tech trickery, a finance pro at a big-time international company got hoodwinked into forking over a whopping $25 million!

The con artists went full sci-fi, using deepfake tech to mimic the company's CFO on a video call.

Imagine sitting in what you think is a legit meeting, but surprise—it's all an illusion, with every "colleague" being a digital fake.

Despite initial doubts sparked by a shady email, the realism of the deepfakes fooled our finance friend into making a massive money transfer.

This caper, one of many exploiting deepfake tech for fraud, has sparked a wave of arrests and a serious headache for authorities worldwide.

💡 My take:

With every advancement the scammers are lurking in deep dark corners waiting for their moment to exploit. And, as we’ve already seen a number of times AI is front and center really because of its ease of use. I spoke a little about deep fakes on the Tamron Hall show late last year. Now… you all know I love AI and don’t like to succumb to the fear mongering but we also have to stay safe. There are limited solutions on how we can solve this problem which I’ll get to in the next post below. In the meantime setting up safe words with loved ones is a low tech way to protect yourself.

Now on to the good stuff…

#3 AI Generated Fake ID’s Are a Thing

So, apparently there is this website called OnlyFake that basically allows anyone to create a fake ID for $15.

They use AI so the fake IDs are near flawless.

404 media did an awesome investigative report on this.

People are then using these fake IDs to bypass KYC (Know Your Customer) to setup bank accounts and such.

You can see where I’m going with this and how dangerous this can be for money laundering especially when it comes to the crypto scammers.

With AI’s acceleration identity verification is becoming necessary. Not just for our voices and likeness. But also for other types of data we may generate.

And while many of us are limited to safe words for now, solutions like WorldCoin’s World ID are intriguing.

The created Proof of Personhood, which appears to be the most promising solution yet.

💡 My take:

If you are creating in AI this is something you should be thinking about. WorldCoin didn’t sponsor this but I did want to single them out specifically because, unlike many crypto projects, there is actual utility here and they make it easy to integrate. Even if you aren’t a builder they have a consumer facing option as well. Listen, most of my posts have been snarky, funny, and filled with excitement for AI. It’s still there but I do want to be responsible and share actual solutions on how we use and create with AI safely. The world is changing and it’s changing fast. I’m old enough to know it when I see it and that’s why I’m back to writing, podcasting, and educating among the other things I’m working on. It’s an incredibly exciting time to live in. To have the tools needed to reshape our lives available to us. Let’s all stay aware of the growth challenges of new technologies while also using them to create a better life for ourselves and others.

Ok, now on to the funnies…

💩Sh*ts & Giggles

That’s all for today folks!

See you on the interwebs and on the pod,

AB