UK-based Iranians alarmed by AI voice answering phones in Tehran

Canada News.Net

5 hours ago

DUBAI, U.A.E.: British Iranians living in the U.K. are taken aback when they try to reach their families in Tehran on the phone and are met with a robotic voice instead. The voice, struggling with English, introduces itself as Alyssia and seems more confused than helpful.
This disconcerting encounter has become increasingly prevalent among Iranians abroad, especially following the recent Israeli airstrikes on Iran.
Ellie, a British-Iranian living in the U.K., is one of nine expatriates who shared their encounters with similar robotic voices. They recounted their experiences to The Associated Press while opting to remain anonymous due to safety concerns for their families still in Iran.
Experts who reviewed recordings of these calls speculate that they may stem from low-tech artificial intelligence, chatbots, or pre-recorded messages redirecting calls from outside the country. While it remains ambiguous who is responsible for this phenomenon, four out of five experts posited that it likely originated from the Iranian government, while the remaining expert suggested the involvement of Israeli authorities.
The eerie calls come at a time when tensions in the region have escalated, particularly as Iran faces military strikes and has retaliated with missile attacks, all against a backdrop of widespread internet blackouts. These restrictions hinder ordinary Iranians from accessing outside information, exacerbating the anxiety for those trying to maintain contact with their loved ones.
For Ellie, this situation is particularly dire; her mother, who suffers from diabetes, is running low on insulin while remaining trapped on the outskirts of Tehran. Ellie feels a growing sense of urgency to communicate her desire for her mother to evacuate, but the barriers to communication frustrate her efforts.
Among the testimonials collected, one 30-year-old woman living in New York labeled the experience "psychological warfare." She described the fear of anticipating a familiar voice only to be confronted with an AI-generated one. Such encounters have left many feeling unsettled and fearful, exemplified by a U.K. woman who received an automated voice message that offered platitudes instead of the guidance she sought from her mother.
Curiously, not every Iranian abroad is experiencing these robotic messages; some report endless ringing without any response. Colin Crowell, a former Twitter executive, indicated that Iranian phone companies might be diverting calls to a default message system, preventing successful communication.
Amir Rashidi, a U.S.-based cybersecurity expert, suggested that these recorded messages could be a governmental tactic to counter perceived external threats, yet acknowledged the lack of concrete evidence supporting this theory.
The Iranian government's history of controlling communication during crises adds another layer of concern. Mehdi Yahyanejad, an internet freedom advocate, noted that while hacking the communication network is plausible, it's unlikely given the Iranian authorities' existing surveillance capabilities.
Amid the chaos, Ellie managed to find a channel to communicate with her mother, relying on a connection through someone on the Iran-Turkey border. This workaround allows her to relay urgent messages, including warnings about the invasive robotic voice that has been answering her mother's calls.
Meanwhile, others continue to face dire situations, as evidenced by a woman in the U.K. seeking her mother-in-law, who has recently been hospitalized amidst the ongoing violence. Instead of receiving supportive messages, she is met with the same disconcerting recorded phrases designed to project a false sense of calm, leaving her with a profound sense of helplessness and despair.