The number of identity theft victims in America rose to an all-time high of 16.7 million in 2017, according to a report from Javelin Strategy & Research. The report, entitled 2018 Identity Fraud: Fraud Enters a New Era of Complexity, listed down the most common types of identity fraud such as credit card fraud, employment or tax-related fraud, utility fraud, bank fraud, loan fraud, and government benefits fraud. The losses resulting from these scams amounted to a staggering $16.8 billion.
Considering how rampant identity fraud is nowadays, companies and enterprises from all over the world are hoping to use advances in artificial intelligence in order to revolutionize security in all sectors.
IMAGE: PEXELS
Artificial Intelligence In Human Transactions
In many ways, the world has plenty of uses for AI systems in security. Unlike human components, AI systems can be easily trained to determine the next best action by itself, using past actions as the basis for future decisions. Since they are automated, they can be left alone doing repetitive and mundane tasks without having to worry about the risks of human error.
In fact, one of the unique traits of AI also serves as its biggest advantage. The more AI systems are used for repetitive tasks, the more intelligent they become.
Efficient Security In Healthcare
This unique trait makes AI systems perfect for revolutionizing security and efficiency in healthcare. Most hospitals in the world have already digitized their medical records. The transfer to digital was originally implemented to make things much easier than written records, which was a tedious and unnecessarily time-consuming process. Unfortunately, in many hospitals, even digital medical records are disorganized, outdated, and insecure. Especially when trying to find relevant and helpful information, practitioners and patients alike can feel overwhelmed by the lengthy process and amount of data they have to sift through before getting their answers.
With AI, information can easily be accessed without having to go through this process. For example, medical records can be revolutionized with the use of an identity bracelet, unique secured to each individual patient. Doctors could use a device that connects to patients’ identity bracelets, giving them the ability to instantly pull up necessary medical information and conduct a free background check about the patient, as long as they are within range.
Once the doctor leaves the area, the visit is logged into the bracelet and the patient’s records immediately become locked. In addition to this, staff nurses making rounds can save time since they no longer need to enter each room just to check the patient’s condition and activity, as sensors can already give them that information while they’re walking in the hallway.
AI systems could also improve personalized treatment suggestions to doctors and caregivers, based on all previous interactions and the patient’s medical history. This could potentially help make treatments more effective on each patient since the treatment will be personalized based on their individual needs.
Convenient Yet Safe Financial Services
Majority of identity fraud reports is found in financial institutions and services such as banks and credit card companies. The Guardian’s David Mitchell compares it to actual bank robbery, adding that establishing the notion of this type of fraud is “one of the cleverest things the banking sector has done since the advent of the internet.”
Financial services have never been more convenient than today, thanks to online banking and mobile banking that allow bank clients to access their accounts at any given time. However, this has also caused many problems for people who have been targeted by cyber criminals who use digital services to gain access to other people’s bank accounts and credit cards. This leads to over $600 billion that is estimated to be lost annually due to identity fraud.
Artificial intelligence can help avoid these scenarios by providing additional privacy protection, implementing better regulatory compliance and improving credit-risk assessment. AI systems can also be trained to analyze spending behavior by card owners in order to detect any anomalies happening in real time.
Improving Safety In Gig Economy
Gig economy is one of the many sectors that will benefit greatly from the added security provided by artificial intelligence. Ride-hailing company Uber, for example, relies on matching car owners with random passengers. This poses a lot of risks, not just to the drivers, but to the passengers as well. As a matter of fact, a 21-year-old university student was killed in March this year after accidentally getting into the wrong car, thinking it was her Uber ride. A month before that incident, an Uber driver was mugged by a group of armed men who booked a ride as passengers.
This is one of the many reasons why the company is continuing to innovate and improve its technology to prevent fraud and reduce the risks for both parties.
“Our philosophy is no strangers,” says Uber’s head of trust and safety initiatives Kate Parker. “So we designed our platform to introduce drivers and riders right away, to promote comfort on both sides.”
One of the company’s latest innovations is facial recognition technology equipped with artificial intelligence that can help passengers check if the person in front of them is indeed the driver registered on the Uber app. The ride-hailing company assures that although it’s considered an extra verification step, it’s lightning fast due to cognitive capabilities. The technology works on all smartphones even in low light, scaling to more than a million registered Uber drivers.
According to Uber’s product manager, Dima Kovalev, Uber is not the only company that is currently using facial recognition technology, nor artificial intelligence. More and more companies have been using such systems to improve security within their own firms. “This is becoming a standard sign-in method in many industries, such as financial services.”
“Your face is your new password,” Kovalev adds.
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