How To Differentiate AI and Non-AI Technology

A classic example of AI technology is a self-driving car – it learns and reacts to its environment when it recognises to stop at a red light or avoid obstacles by steering around parked cars.
A chatbot is also technology driven by AI. It understands and responds to human language when it answers your questions.

Non-AI technology follows fixed rules or instructions. For example, a basic alarm clock rings the same time everyday unless it’s reset or turned off.

A normal fridge does not use AI – temperature settings are manual and cannot be controlled remotely. However, fridges CAN be made using AI technology – these are smart fridges.

In conclusion…

…If a device or app seems to have the ability to “learn” your preferences and improve the more you use it, this is a good indicator that it uses AI.

AI isn’t all that new. It’s not just robots and self-driving cars, but everyday technology and apps that are commonly used…

Some Everyday Examples of AI

AI might seem new and scary, but it is likely that the majority of us use AI-powered technology in our everyday lives.

👉 Facial recognition on your iPhone? Predictive text? These are powered by AI

👉 Personalised recommendations from entertainment apps, such as Spotify? This is AI tech – it collects data to learn what songs you like. It analyses this data to suggest new songs based on what music you listen to

👉 Social media platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok? They use AI to learn that you usually watch fitness content, for example. They therefore fill your explore feed with fitness content

In a previous newsletter, we looked the perpetrator’s use of smart home devices to monitor and control survivors. Smart home devices use AI – they learn the users habits and make suggestions based on these. For example:

👉 Smart thermostats use machine learning to learn when you are home and the temperatures you prefer. They can adjust automatically and adapt to your routine

👉 Amazon Alexa uses AI because it uses natural language processing to understand and respond to human speech and language such as voice commands to provide information about the current weather, for example

AI makes life easier for perpetrators

Although AI can make our homes and lives more efficient, it can also make it easier for perpetrators to abuse. AI has become more accessible and user-friendly and perpetrators don’t need to be tech experts to know how to misuse it.

How Could Perpetrators of Domestic Abuse Use AI?

1) Smart home devices

• Surveillance and monitoring
  Devices could be used to secretly monitor a partner or ex-partner’s movements, conversations, routines, and location. See this interactive home tool for further examples
• Intimidation, isolation, and confusion
  There are cases where perpetrators have remotely controlled the heating in the survivor’s home on the smart thermostat, or played creepy music on smart speakers at odd hours

2) Location tracking apps and tech

Apps such as Life360 or ‘Find My’ use AI to track a person’s location based on patterns. Fitness trackers use AI to track health, as well as movements and routines.

• Stalking
  Perpetrators may use these to stalk a partner or ex-partner’s whereabouts, even after separation if they have remote access

3) Deepfake media

There is a vast amount of AI-driven apps and programs that can generate fake images or videos depicting an individual or a group doing or saying something they didn’t. Deepfakes can also be audio, text, or live stream form.

• Humiliation and discreditation
  The majority of deepfakes are pornographic rather than political and tend to target women – perpetrators create and share content to humiliate and attempt to destroy reputation
• Blackmail or sextortion
  Perpetrators may create and share deepfakes of the survivor in order to threaten them – known as sextortion
• Stalking
  Perpetrators could use AI to generate images for an online dating profile, posing as a made-up person, in order to attract or appeal to an ex-partner
• Voice cloning for manipulation
  There have been recent cases where scammers have used AI to clone voices of victim’s loved ones on a phone call in order to manipulate them into sending money ASAP. Perpetrators could use voice cloning technology to manipulate family or friends of the survivor into giving away personal information. Perpetrators could also use voice cloning to damage the survivor’s reputation and create false narratives about the survivor

4) Chatbots and scripts

ChatGPT, Telegram bots, custom Python scripts… these are AI-driven and their automated nature amplifies the reach of abuse.

• Automated harassment
  Perpetrators may use these to effortlessly generate and send relentless abusive or threatening messages on multiple platforms, making it harder for survivors to escape it. They may also use chatbots and scripts to generate and spread misinformation about the survivor online
• Stalking
  Perpetrators could use chatbots on dating apps to write in a way that attracts or appeals to an ex-partner

5) Predictive tech

These are systems or apps that use AI to collect your data to learn your patterns and predict future behaviour. Think: Netflix, Spotify, YouTube, fitness apps, shopping or food delivery apps… Smart home devices are also predictive technology.

• Economic abuse
  Perpetrators can exploit predictive tech to track purchases and anticipate or monitor the survivor’s next purchases
• Ultimate control
  Perpetrators can monitor viewing habits to anticipate the survivor’s emotional state and use this against them to coerce or drive fear in making them feel constantly watched. Viewing platforms or shopping accounts could be hacked or logged in to and used to manipulate recommendations, causing confusion. Viewing habits could also reveal when someone is home or awake

It is also worth considering that the use of AI-generated images or text conversations could be used to manipulate evidence in court cases, which is yet something else to navigate.

Want to find out more about technology-facilitated domestic abuse?

Visit the training page on our website to find details of our upcoming sessions.