Apple's newest phone is expected to include a long list of artificial intelligence features. And while many consumers are embracing these new tools, others have concerns about AI and worry it will make it harder to identify potential scams.
But avoiding it is getting tougher and tougher, as AI is coming to just about everything we use and touch, from new iPhones, the next generation of laptops (featuring Microsoft's Windows Copilot), and perhaps even your next kitchen appliances.
Consumers have many concerns
If you have mixed feelings about AI, you're not alone.
"It might help out," one woman sitting outside at lunch said. "Maybe, maybe not. But it's scary!"
Patrick Bolling, also enjoying lunch on a nice September day, says he's uneasy.
"I'm scared to death of it," he said.
Especially in an election year, he says, "You can't trust anything, and you can't believe anything."
A new survey from the company Boss Revolution captures Americans' concerns about AI as 48% say they feel less "scam-savvy." One in three admit it would be difficult to identify a potential scam if an AI scammer tried to impersonate someone they know.
Mike Kaput of the Marketing AI Institute says, "The biggest danger right now is that your average American still, even if they're afraid of AI, does not know how good this technology has gotten."
He has a caution for consumers.
"I can tell you to keep your eyes open and remain aware," he said, "but you can still get fooled very easily."
Worries about financial scams
In the survey, the majority of respondents, 69%, believe AI will have a major impact on financial scams. AI helps scammers come up with much more convincing emails and text messages, according to Zulfikar Ramzan with the software company Aura.
"Nowadays, we're seeing more and more messages with impeccable grammar, no errors. Everything looks copacetic," he said.
Kaput admits AI does have risks, but insists it's not all doom and gloom.
"Despite the scary parts of it, there's so many ways where it can vastly improve your daily life or the work that you do," Kaput said.
Boss Revolution's survey finds 38% of people are likely to use AI for everyday tasks.
Best Buy's Seph Swaenepoel agrees, telling us there's no need to be scared of the AI on the newest Windows laptops, for instance.
"Everybody could benefit from having an assistant, essentially," he said.
That way you're using AI for good, and you don't waste your money.
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