Amy, have you heard about that AI grandma in the UK? She’s fighting scammers!

Yeah, her name is Daisy! She’s an AI created by Virgin Media O2 to keep scammers on the line so they waste their time and can’t target real people.

That’s hilarious. How does she work? Does she just, like, talk to them endlessly?

Pretty much! Daisy is powered by AI and uses voice-to-text to understand what scammers are saying. Then she replies using pre-trained responses based on scam scenarios. All this happens in seconds, so she can keep up with them easily.

So, she’s pretending to be a sweet old grandma while stalling the scammers? What does she say?

She acts like a tech-illiterate grandma, telling random stories about her grandchildren or asking silly questions. It frustrates the scammers and keeps them talking for as long as possible.

That’s genius. But how do the scammers even call her?

Virgin Media O2 used a tactic called number seeding. They got Daisy’s number added to scammers’ ‘mugs lists’ — basically lists of easy targets scammers use. So now scammers call her thinking she’s a vulnerable victim.

Wow, it’s like she’s baiting them! Has it been successful so far?

Definitely. Since launching in November, Daisy has had over 1,000 conversations with scammers. Some calls lasted up to 40 minutes! Virgin Media O2 also hopes it raises awareness about fraud and how to spot scams.

I can see how that helps. But what’s the bigger goal here? Just wasting scammers’ time?

That’s part of it. The more time scammers spend talking to Daisy, the less time they have to target real people. But it’s also about educating consumers. Virgin Media O2 wants people to know what scams sound like and stay vigilant.

Makes sense. Fraud is such a big problem everywhere. I think the article said 69% of Brits have been targeted by scams. That’s crazy.

It is! And in the U.S., people get almost 3 billion scam calls a month. That’s why tools like Daisy — or features like Google’s AI that can detect scam patterns — are so important.

Wait, Google has something similar?

Kind of. On their Pixel phones, Google has an AI feature that listens in on calls and detects scam-like patterns, like someone urgently asking for money or account info. It even gives you alerts during the call.

That’s super useful. Do you think we’ll ever get a ‘Daisy’ in the U.S.?

It’s possible! Companies here already have call-screening software, but an AI like Daisy could take it a step further by actively engaging with scammers. It could really help fight fraud.

I love the idea. It’s like fighting back without lifting a finger. Plus, scammers totally deserve it!

Exactly. Daisy proves that AI can be a creative tool to solve real-world problems. Hopefully, more companies will follow suit!