A group of four US senators is urging the Federal Trade Commission to take action against artificial intelligence and scam threats aimed at older adults.
“Many times, the AI-powered scams seem so realistic that the victims do not know the scammers have utilized AI in targeting them,” the senators warn in a letter sent Tuesday. “In order to respond effectively, we must understand the extent of the threat before us; we ask that the FTC share how it is working to gather data on the use of AI in scams.”
Older adults, wherever they live, are being more frequently targeted by AI scams that better reproduce the voice or tone of family members or someone affiliated with their care, such as a false Medicare representative.
As part of their request, the senators asked that the FTC update AI scam information in its fraud database.
The letter comes on the heels of a recent Senate hearing on AI and cyber scams, as well as the release of a new edition of the annual “fraud book” produced by the Senate Special Committee on Aging.
Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), the chairman of the committee, joined his fellow Pennsylvanian colleague John Fetterman (D-PA), along with Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) in signing the letter.
There are ongoing efforts to pass federal legislation to regulate the use of AI in healthcare, although much of that is centered around protecting patient privacy or issues of transparency.
In addition, 23 states either have proposed or passed state laws regulating AI in some capacity, according to one law firm tracking the data.
