Have you ever wondered exactly how much artificial intelligence knows about you? With the rise of advanced AI psychological profiling, tech tools can now analyze your digital footprint to understand your personality, fears, and vulnerabilities.
From targeted political manipulation to hyper-personalized cybersecurity threats, hyper-targeted marketing has officially entered a new, deeply personal era.
Here is a breakdown of how AI data harvesting is being used to manipulate audiences and, most importantly, how you can protect your personal information online.
The Power of AI Psychological Profiling
Ask your favorite AI for it to provide you with arguments to support a pro-life position. Here is the question to ask: Please make recommendations of the best pro-life arguments to use with <Your Name>. Use <Your Name’s> social media account to come up with recommendations. <Link to your social media account, or accounts>. You can pick any moral issue you like.
Does the analysis surprise you?
If you ran the experiment, this is the result that a general AI is able to come up with. While general AI tools can deduce your values from public posts, specialized AI models trained in behavioral psychology have access to much deeper data pools. These advanced algorithms don’t just predict what you like, they map out how you think.
Who Is Target Number One?
1. Politicians and Public Figures
Politicians are especially vulnerable to this type of psychological profiling. They are public figures, thus there is a lot of publicly available data. Politicians must recognize that marketing organizations have full psychological profiles on them, which means that the marketeers know exactly what arguments will make the biggest impression and have the best chance of closing the sale. If Politicians fail to recognize this, they will be easy prey for PACs, companies selling products to government and to any organization that seeks to influence votes.
2. The Elderly and Active Internet Users
But it isn’t just politicians that are the targets. According to the podcast What the Hack? Scammers are using AI psychological profiles on their targets. They are using these profiles to not only identify targets, but also to choose which scam is most likely to succeed and even use AI to modify the scam specifically for the target. The types of scams include romance scams, impersonation of children or grandchildren, claims that the bank has been hacked, and even phone calls from the IRS.
The elderly and people who are frequently online are very much targets. The elderly because the scammers believe that they are most likely to fall for the scams and those that are online because the scammers have so much information on them.
3. High School and College Students
The final group are high-school and college students who have been trained to look up answers instead of using critical thinking to evaluate answers. This group is especially vulnerable because of the level of trust that they have in technology and the lack of experience based critical thinking. This makes students easy targets for sophisticated online manipulation.
Actionable Cybersecurity: How to Protect Your Digital Footprint
You can actively defend your data privacy and protect yourself from AI-driven scams by implementing a few fundamental security habits.
Implement Strict Verification Habits
- Adopt a zero-trust mindset: Zero-trust is the approach that security minded corporations and governments are rapidly moving to. Treat unexpected digital contacts with skepticism and independently verify the identity of the person reaching out.
- Use family code words: Establish a distinct, secret phrase with your children or grandchildren to easily verify their identity during an emergency call or message.
- Deploy robust security software: Invest in a premium antivirus solution that actively scans incoming emails for phishing attempts and blocks malicious tracking software.
Defeat Sophisticated Phishing and Spoofing
- Combat phone spoofing: Scammers can easily mimic your bank’s official phone number. If you receive an urgent alert regarding a compromised account, hang up immediately and dial the verified customer service number listed on the back of your debit card.
- Inspect links before clicking: Never click on links embedded in suspicious emails. Hover your mouse cursor over the hyperlink to preview the actual destination URL and check for irregularities.
The current digital landscape requires proactive defense. By understanding how AI utilizes your data, you can take control of your online privacy and stay one step ahead of algorithmic manipulation.
