Posted on Mar 28, 2022
That smiling LinkedIn profile face might be a computer-generated fake
991
13
4
7
7
0
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/27/ [login to see] /fake-linkedin-profiles
At first glance, Renée DiResta thought the LinkedIn message seemed normal enough.
The sender, Keenan Ramsey, mentioned that they both belonged to a LinkedIn group for entrepreneurs. She punctuated her greeting with a grinning emoji before pivoting to a pitch for software.
"Quick question — have you ever considered or looked into a unified approach to message, video, and phone on any device, anywhere?"
At first glance, Renée DiResta thought the LinkedIn message seemed normal enough.
The sender, Keenan Ramsey, mentioned that they both belonged to a LinkedIn group for entrepreneurs. She punctuated her greeting with a grinning emoji before pivoting to a pitch for software.
"Quick question — have you ever considered or looked into a unified approach to message, video, and phone on any device, anywhere?"
That smiling LinkedIn profile face might be a computer-generated fake
Posted from npr.org
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Social Media
Propaganda
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 3
3
3
0
(3)
(0)
CPT (Join to see)
Attractive, non-existent woman on internet easily makes inroads in military, intel, and hacker...
Thomas Ryan of Provide Security's making it public knowledge that social networking sites aren't just annoying: they're also potentially major security threats.
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""Quick question — have you ever considered or looked into a unified approach to message, video, and phone on any device, anywhere?"
DiResta wasn't interested and would have ignored the message entirely, but then she looked closer at Ramsey's profile picture. Little things seemed off in what should have been a typical corporate headshot. Ramsey was wearing only one earring. Bits of her hair disappeared and then reappeared. Her eyes were aligned right in the middle of the image.
"The face jumped out at me as being fake," said DiResta, a veteran researcher who has studied Russian disinformation campaigns and anti-vaccine conspiracies. To her trained eye, these anomalies were red flags that Ramsey's photo had likely been created by artificial intelligence.
That chance message launched DiResta and her colleague Josh Goldstein at the Stanford Internet Observatory on an investigation that uncovered more than 1,000 LinkedIn profiles using what appear to be faces created by artificial intelligence.
Social media accounts using computer-generated faces have pushed Chinese disinformation; harassed activists; and masqueraded as Americans supporting former President Donald Trump and independent news outlets spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda.
NPR found that many of the LinkedIn profiles seem to have a far more mundane purpose: drumming up sales for companies big and small. Accounts like Keenan Ramsey's send messages to potential customers. Anyone who takes the bait gets connected to a real salesperson who tries to close the deal. Think telemarketing for the digital age.
By using fake profiles, companies can cast a wide net online without beefing up their own sales staff or hitting LinkedIn's limits on messages. Demand for online sales leads exploded during the pandemic as it became hard for sales teams to pitch their products in person.
More than 70 businesses were listed as employers on these fake profiles. Several told NPR they had hired outside marketers to help with sales. They said they hadn't authorized any use of computer-generated images, however, and many were surprised to learn about them when NPR asked.
NPR has not independently verified who created the profiles or images, or found anyone who authorized them to be used. Nor has NPR found any illegal activity.
But these computer-generated LinkedIn profile photos illustrate how a technology that has been used to propagate misinformation and harassment online has made its way to the corporate world."...
...""Quick question — have you ever considered or looked into a unified approach to message, video, and phone on any device, anywhere?"
DiResta wasn't interested and would have ignored the message entirely, but then she looked closer at Ramsey's profile picture. Little things seemed off in what should have been a typical corporate headshot. Ramsey was wearing only one earring. Bits of her hair disappeared and then reappeared. Her eyes were aligned right in the middle of the image.
"The face jumped out at me as being fake," said DiResta, a veteran researcher who has studied Russian disinformation campaigns and anti-vaccine conspiracies. To her trained eye, these anomalies were red flags that Ramsey's photo had likely been created by artificial intelligence.
That chance message launched DiResta and her colleague Josh Goldstein at the Stanford Internet Observatory on an investigation that uncovered more than 1,000 LinkedIn profiles using what appear to be faces created by artificial intelligence.
Social media accounts using computer-generated faces have pushed Chinese disinformation; harassed activists; and masqueraded as Americans supporting former President Donald Trump and independent news outlets spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda.
NPR found that many of the LinkedIn profiles seem to have a far more mundane purpose: drumming up sales for companies big and small. Accounts like Keenan Ramsey's send messages to potential customers. Anyone who takes the bait gets connected to a real salesperson who tries to close the deal. Think telemarketing for the digital age.
By using fake profiles, companies can cast a wide net online without beefing up their own sales staff or hitting LinkedIn's limits on messages. Demand for online sales leads exploded during the pandemic as it became hard for sales teams to pitch their products in person.
More than 70 businesses were listed as employers on these fake profiles. Several told NPR they had hired outside marketers to help with sales. They said they hadn't authorized any use of computer-generated images, however, and many were surprised to learn about them when NPR asked.
NPR has not independently verified who created the profiles or images, or found anyone who authorized them to be used. Nor has NPR found any illegal activity.
But these computer-generated LinkedIn profile photos illustrate how a technology that has been used to propagate misinformation and harassment online has made its way to the corporate world."...
(1)
(0)
1
1
0
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google