Stanford researchers René DiResta and Josh Goldstein have uncovered over 1,000 fake LinkedIn accounts with AI-generated profile photos.
Meet Keenan Ramsey. Her LinkedIn profile says she sells software for RingCentral & has a business degree from NYU. She likes CNN, Amazon, & Melinda French Gates. Her pitches come punctuated with emojis.https://t.co/TyoBp2qxIP pic.twitter.com/LLfIvph17N
— Shannon Bond (@shannonpareil) March 27, 2022
According to DiResta, she received a message from a man named Keanu Ramsey that looked like a regular software advertisement. However, upon closer examination, it turned out that Ramsey is a fictional person.
The profile picture looked like a standard portrait shot. However, the photo contained a number of markers pointing to a fake created by a service like This Person Does Not Exist. DiResta noticed the alignment of the eyes, the missing one earring, and the blurry hair in the background.
“This is not a story about misinformation or misinformation, but rather an intersection of a fairly mundane use case for AI technology in business and, as a result, questions of ethics and expectations,” the researcher said.
Specialists from the non-profit organization NPR studied the statements of DiRestra and Goldstein. According to them, more than 70 companies were associated with fake profiles. Several organizations reported that they hired third-party marketers and were surprised by the use of fake profiles. They also deny sanctioning such campaigns.
According to NRP, fake profiles are often used by companies to present software to new customers. If a potential client answers, they are redirected to a real person. With this technique, companies can significantly expand their footprint without increasing headcount, the experts added.
Recall that in September 2021, scientists told how to distinguish fake photos from real ones.
In November, researchers created an algorithm that simplifies the creation of deepfakes.
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