Bridging the Protection Gap: Innovative Approaches to Shield Older Adults from AI-Enhanced Scams

Abstract: AI is rapidly gaining popularity as individuals, groups, and organizations discover and apply its expanding capabilities. Generative AI creates or alters various content types including text, image, audio, and video that are realistic and challenging to identify as AI-generated constructs. However, guardrails preventing malicious use of AI are easily bypassed. Numerous indications suggest that scammers are already using AI to enhance already successful scams, improving scam effectiveness, speed and credibility, while reducing detectability of scams that target older adults, who are known to be slow to adopt new technologies. Through hypothetical cases analysis of two leading scams, the tech support scams and the romance scams, this paper explores the future of AI in scams affecting older adults by identifying current vulnerabilities and recommending updated defensive measures focusing the establishment of a reliable support network offering elevated support to increase confidence and ability to defend against AI-enhanced scams.