It’s impossible to compile a complete list of all the technologies and weapons that have influenced warfare throughout the centuries. Some breakthrough innovations, however, have been so impactful that they fundamentally changed how wars were fought—from the humble bow and arrow to tanks to modern killer drones. Related: 10 U.S. Military Plans That Were Top […]
by Elizabeth Melton | The Daily Economy A surveillance state is being erected around the American public at an alarming rate. In many urban and suburban settings, anyone traveling on public streets or sidewalks will have his image captured by the ubiquitous surveillance cameras. A leisurely stroll around the neighborhood, as well as any conversation along the way, might be recorded if the city uses surveillance-enabled street lights. Even our own front yards might not be safe from the prying eyes of the state if a neighbor has a “smart” doorbell that shares data with law enforcement. Rural areas are […]
by Aaron Kheriaty | Brownstone Institute Here’s the video link to my recent talk at Hillsdale College on AI and Transhumanism. I’m including below the text of the speech if you prefer to read rather than watch it. Hillsdale College: Transhumanism and AI | Aaron Kheriaty, 4 April 2025 (55 mins) Hackable Animals My friends, let me introduce you to Yuval Noah Harari, a man chock full of big ideas. He explained during the Covid crisis: “Covid is critical because this is what convinces people to accept, to legitimize, total biometric surveillance. If we want to stop this epidemic, we […]
by Veronika Kyrylenko Reprinted with permission from TheNewAmerican.com The National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB) has issued a stark warning: The United States is at risk of falling behind China in the critical field of biotechnology. In its final report to Congress, the bipartisan commission, staffed with the national security insiders, calls for a comprehensive national strategy and a minimum investment of $15 billion over the next five years, ostensibly to bolster U.S. leadership in biotech. The 2025 final report of the NSCEB opens not with a warning, but with a prophecy: We stand at the edge of a […]
by Joshua Stylman | Daily Clout “The human body is no longer just a biological entity – it’s becoming a networked platform, where cells, neurons, and even DNA can be interfaced with digital systems, raising profound questions about who controls the essence of our existence.” – Ian F. Akyildiz Imagine discovering that your neurons – the very cells that make you you – could be transformed into networked data points, each one monitored and potentially controlled by microscopic machines. At the same time, your genetic code – your biological blueprint – is being bought, sold, and potentially auctioned to the highest bidder […]
CONCEPCIÓN DE SOLUTECA, Honduras — In the 1970s, the Honduran government granted a piece of land in the mountains of Concepción de Soluteca to Roberto González’s parents. They duly grabbed a chainsaw and a machete to clear the forest. On the 12 hectares (30 acres) they received as part of a land reform, they planted corn, beans and bananas, the basic staple foods. It was a hard life up in the mountains, allowing the farmers and their families to just survive. There wasn’t much public infrastructure, and most children had to help with farmwork early on. This included González, who only attended elementary school for three years. When González inherited the land 20 years later, coffee cultivation was just taking off. Middlemen promised the farmers good money for the export crop, and the banks provided loans for cultivation. At first, this worked well, González, now 39, remembers. Coffee helped the farmers to generate income and improve living conditions. But it didn’t last long. They grew coffee much the same way they did other crops, without adequate soil or shade management. When harvests dwindled, they expanded their area, cutting the last standing forests and damaging water sources. Around 2012, they faced an outbreak of coffee rust, a fungal disease. It was a complete disaster: many farmers were thrown into poverty and forced to migrate. “We destroyed the foundations of our livelihoods, but it was out of ignorance; we just didn’t know better,” González tells Mongabay. Under the EUDR, coffee farmers step…This article was originally published on Mongabay
mikemacmarketing, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
AI has become a force multiplier for scammers. It enables them to accomplish in seconds what once took hours—at massive scale and with startling accuracy. Fraudsters have moved from a cottage-industry model to full-scale industrial operations.
Artificial intelligence has pushed scams to an unprecedented level, both in quality and quantity. Here is an overview of the most significant developments.
The Numbers Are Staggering
AI-enabled scams have increased by 1,210%, far outpacing the growth of traditional fraud (195%). Global losses tied to AI-assisted scams are estimated at $14.3 billion, and Deloitte projects that losses in the United States will rise from $12.3 billion in 2023 to $40 billion by 2027.
In France specifically, caller ID spoofing surged by 517% in 2025, and more than 500,000 victims have already received support after falling prey to AI-based scams such as voice cloning and fake financial advisers.
How AI Industrializes Scams
1. Highly Targeted Phishing
Generative AI is transforming phishing by creating highly personalized messages. Cybercriminals use personal data available on social media to craft emails tailored precisely to each victim.
2. Voice Cloning and Deepfakes
Voice-cloning technology now requires as little as three seconds of audio to reproduce a person’s voice with remarkable realism. By mimicking the voice or appearance of executives and public officials, criminals can deceive employees into authorizing fraudulent wire transfers—as demonstrated by the $26 million stolen in Hong Kong through a deepfake scheme.
3. Fraudulent Conversational Bots
AI-powered romance scams use large language models to sustain emotionally convincing conversations at scale. These bots can maintain dozens of simultaneous “relationships,” adapting their tone and personality to each target.
4. Fake Job Interviews
In January 2025, authorities dismantled a large-scale scam in which fraudsters used AI avatars to conduct fake job interviews, collecting sensitive personal information and confidential documents. Recruiting platforms report that identity-theft attempts involving AI-generated job postings have increased fivefold.
5. Large-Scale Cryptocurrency Scams
Check Point’s “Truman Show” operation uncovered a scheme involving 90 AI-generated “experts” deployed in controlled messaging groups to persuade victims to invest in fraudulent crypto platforms. According to Chainalysis, cryptocurrency scams caused $14 billion in losses in 2025, and AI-driven scams proved 4.5 times more profitable than conventional fraud.
Why Are These Scams So Hard to Detect?
AI-based scams remove many of the human limitations that once made social engineering easier to spot and slower to execute. There are no spelling mistakes, no foreign accents, and no obvious visual inconsistencies. People correctly identify AI-generated voices only about 60% of the time.
How to Protect Yourself
A few essential precautions:
Verify any urgent request for money or sensitive information through a separate communication channel, even if the voice or face appears familiar.
Be skeptical of offers that seem too good to be true, such as crypto investments or high-paying jobs with no genuine interview process.
Establish a family “safe word” to confirm emergency calls from relatives.
Never transfer funds solely on the basis of instructions received by email or phone call, even if they appear to come from a manager or supervisor.
The Algarve has been challenged to stop ‘imitating Silicon Valley’ and instead carve out its own identity as a specialist tech hub, with artificial intelligence and robotics at the centre
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