Getting a scam call is one of the biggest irritants of the modern day. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says it’s the most common consumer complaint, but one guy has found a way to use AI to turn the tables on the telemarketers and waste their time instead.
In an article in The Wall Street Journal, 54-year-old Californian Roger Anderson explained how his mission in life, getting back at scam callers, started with an irritating phone message a decade ago. He now deploys cutting-edge artificial intelligence tech and audio cloning to keep scammers talking in circles.
Best yet, for $1.99 a month, his brainchild, now officially The Jolly Roger Telephone Company, can be used by anyone.
According to a short video tutorial, when you get a call about, say, your car’s extended warranty, you can patch the caller in with the AI bot, who will take care of the rest, needlessly — and realistically — distracting scammers hungry for financial and other information.
You can choose various personalities to take the call, including Salty Sally, who’s not afraid of profanity, enthusiastic Debbie Doldrums or the gruff Bloody Billy, to name a few. When the AI gets a sniff of what the caller wants, it can generate a realistic — but intentionally futile — conversation.
Anderson’s program even includes a “Summon a Pirate” feature that makes things simpler for use on mobile phones. It also gives you a call log so you can happily listen to the AI voice frustrating the telemarketer afterward.
He’s posted examples of such telephonic get-back on his website.