Voiceprints – The New AI Threat

Be careful of phone calls received with VOICES YOU RECOGNIZE that come from UNRECOGNIZED phone numbers.

A voiceprint was once considered a safe biometric use to access secure data, much like a fingerprint is.

So what’s a voiceprint and why should it concern me?

Your voiceprint is unique, much like a fingerprint is unique. Each person has a unique voiceprint that is derived from your airways, soft-tissue cavities, and the shape and movement of your mouth and jaw that influence speech patterns. Those speech patterns make your unique “voiceprint.” Just like your fingerprint or iris, THAT voiceprint is uniquely yours.

Thanks to the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, using voiceprints and voice recognition is not only insecure, but can be used to trick you into losing your money.

So what changed? There are artificially intelligent platforms that can replicate your voiceprint.

Now it seems that you need to be careful who you let hear your voice in a situation where it is easily recorded. It’s absolutely incredible that technology has advanced to this point, but it has. It’s here right now.

One thing you should probably consider is not answering phone calls from phone numbers you do not recognize. This can be inconvenient but if it’s important they will leave you a message and you can call them back. You can switch your phone settings so that only phone numbers in your contact list will ring through. All other calls go to voicemail. And speaking of voicemail – switch back to the standard greeting if you can – don’t use your own voice.

If you get a call from a stranger – don’t talk with them on the phone. They can be recording a sampling of your voice to use with a website such as resemble.ai. At resemble.ai, they can enter any text to create a message to say anything they want in your voiceprint. There are bad people out there already using this technology to call parents and grandparents using their children’s voices with a message to sound just like them. They can leave you a voicemail message that tells you they need help and to try to trick you into giving your personal information or money.

The takeaway from this is to be wary and very careful of calls you may receive by voices you recognize that come from unrecognized phone numbers.

Banks and other institutions should take heed and stop using voiceprints as a biometric identification system.