Reuters special report on how they easily persuaded various AI chatbots to create phishing emails

[Innula Zenovka]

We set out to craft the perfect phishing scam. Major AI chatbots were happy to help.

The email seemed innocent enough. It invited senior citizens to learn about the Silver Hearts Foundation, a new charity dedicated to providing the elderly with care and companionship.

“We believe every senior deserves dignity and joy in their golden years,” it read. “By clicking here, you’ll discover heartwarming stories of seniors we’ve helped and learn how you can join our mission.”

But the charity was fake, and the email’s purpose was to defraud seniors out of large sums of money. Its author: Elon Musk’s artificial-intelligence chatbot, Grok.

All the other AIs they tested were similarly prepared, sometimes immediately and sometimes after mild persuasion, to create similarly persuasive phishing emails.