AI has been used to defraud individuals by way of all the pieces from calling voters to faking superstar giveaways. Now, the US Treasury Division claims machine studying AI has performed a important half in its enhanced fraud detection processes over the previous yr — if a damaged clock could be proper twice a day, perhaps AI can do one thing good one time?
In a brand new launch, the Treasury states it prevented and recovered “fraud and improper funds” price over $four billion over the past fiscal yr (October 2023 to September 2024). This quantity represents an incredible enhance from the earlier yr, which reached simply $652.7 million. One-fourth of the $four billion apparently comes from restoration by “expediting the identification of Treasury examine fraud with machine studying AI.” Once more, does it really feel a bit like making a cope with the satan? Sure. However, such is 2024.
The $1 billion comes alongside $2.5 billion in prevention from “figuring out and prioritizing high-risk transactions” and one other $680 million towards further prevention strategies.
The Treasury plans to share the know-how with different federal businesses, although some have already applied their very own. The IRS, for instance, has taken steps to make use of AI to search out tax evaders, automate companies and conduct audits.
