How O2's AI grandmother wastes scammers' time
Originally posted on LinkedIn, December 3, 2024.
A phone scammer called expecting to persuade an unsuspecting victim. Instead, he spoke to Daisy, an AI grandmother designed to confuse scammers until they give up.
Daisy is a virtual grandmother created by the British telecom company O2. She even has an official role at the company: Head of Scammer Relations. In other words, her job is to waste scammers' time.
Daisy combines several AI agents working together in real time to create a believable character capable of holding long, confusing conversations. She asks about recipes, talks about her grandchildren, and complains about her knees. She keeps this going for minutes while providing false personal information and incorrect credit card details, until the scammers lose patience.
O2 chose a grandmother because scammers often target older people. But Daisy does more than sound like a grandmother. She is more sophisticated than they expect.
The result is calls lasting 10 minutes, 20 minutes, or even longer. The scammers get frustrated and move on to the next call without a single shekel in hand.
Daisy does not eliminate phone scams, but every minute she keeps a scammer occupied is a minute they cannot spend harassing a real person.
