Thanks for calling Discover. Just so you know, this call may be monitored and recorded. Now tell me. How can I help you?

Yes, I've noticed some unauthorized charges on my account from last month and I need help resolving this.

That's me, on the phone with customer service earlier this year. Well, it's not really me. It's a clone I made of my voice,

a clone that's being completely controlled by an artificial intelligence chatbot, making a

phone call using my phone number. Please say or enter the last four digits of your social

security number. I'm sorry, I don't feel comfortable providing my full Social Security number over the phone.

What other information can I provide to verify my identity?

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand.

Please say or enter only the last four digits of your social security number.

I understand the request, but for security and privacy reasons I do not feel comfortable

providing even the last four digits of my social security number during a phone call.

What other identifying information can I provide to verify my identity and get assistance with these unauthorized charges?

You may have heard about voice cloning. Maybe you've even tried it out. If not, it's pretty much what it sounds like. The ability of AI software to make a synthetic copy of your voice. A copy which can then say aloud, whatever text you want to give it.

I'm Evan Ratliff, and I'm a journalist who's been covering technology,

and particularly the darker places where humans and technology intersect for a couple of decades.

This, as you probably guessed, is my cloned voice.

It's a little wooden, maybe, but better when you add some of my more annoying speaking habits.

This is me again.

My producer actually cuts out a lot of my real uhs to make me sound better.

Anyway, as with many developments in the world of AI, the capabilities of this technology have accelerated insanely over the last couple of years. Cloned voices have gone from, what a joke that

sounds nothing like me, to, huh, that's pretty good. And then straight to, this is a little bit terrifying.

I made my first clone about six months ago,

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