The MEF Connects Anti-Fraud Forum in Brussels earlier this month was a powerful insight into the deeply at-risk telecoms sector, as mobile messaging fraud continues to remain a prime target. With over 8 trillion messages sent monthly across the globe, how do we stay ahead of fraudsters and protect our industry, our reputation and ultimately our revenue?
Over the course of the Forum, many topics were discussed, including, current fraud risks like smishing and phishing, as well as OTT fraud trends and fraud mititgation. The topic of AI and Machine Learning was also discussed.
We were delighted to be invited to speak as part of this thought-provoking panel as Adrian Harris took to the stage to convey his, somewhat controversial views on AI to Eric Priezkalns.
Adrian believes that while he feels we are nearly at a point where we can rely on these technologies, most telecommunications fraud teams are more comfortable with the simpler, more transparent decision making of more traditional rules and statistical techniques.
He said, “The reality of our customer base is that they have small budgets and small teams. On the surface, this would suggest they are ideal candidates for the efficiency benefits brought by automation and machine learning. However, those same team constraints mean they rarely have the capacity for the monitoring of these technologies that is required to ensure the decisions being taken remain effective. The risks of taking actions based on learning something inappropriate can outweigh the benefits.”
He does agree however that the future will be dominated by AI and machine learning, saying “One day, our industry will be dominated by impressive AI and ML solutions. But today, I think it is more likely that most AI/ML solutions we are led to believe exist would be served equally without this technology.”
Commenting on Adrian’s comments, Eric Priezkalns, said, “Adrian was the only speaker I had invited to the conference, and I wanted him because he never exaggerates what can be accomplished with advanced technology. So, if he is feeling optimistic about what can be accomplished, even at a small scale for tier 2 and tier 3 telcos, then that makes me optimistic too.”