Catfishing, Phishing, and Deepfakes

Our discussion and research on catfishing, phishing, and deepfakes left me thinking a lot about how central trust is in our lives. Some of the statistics we read, like the fact that over $300 million was lost to romance scams in 2020 alone, were absolutely shocking. Even more surprising was the fact that while 64% of catfishers are women, women over 40 are the most common victims.

What stood out most to me, though, was the conversation on deepfakes. I found myself somewhat scared and disheartened by the fact that so many lives have been affected by catfishing, romance scams, deepfakes, and other forms of fraud. It reminded me of a unit during my AI literacy course I took junior year, where we researched how the development of technology, specifically AI, will affect the future of trust in the world. That class made me realize how fragile trust is, and our further research on deepfakes and phishing only reinforced the fact that trust is more fragile than it ever has been. 

If people lose the ability to believe what they see and hear, it doesn’t just create confusion, it weakens the foundations of democracy. In my AI literacy course, we concluded that the easiest way to destroy a democracy is to erode trust, and deepfakes are becoming one of the most powerful ways to do that. With technology advancing so quickly, bad actors don’t need expensive equipment to create convincing content, which makes the problem even harder to contain.

This class discussion reminded me that trust isn’t just important on a global or political level. It also matters in everyday life, whether it’s trusting a romantic partner online or believing the news you read. Once that trust is broken, the effects can only grow in magnitude.