Language, Speech, and AI: A Forensics Summer School

In 2024, the Global Chief Financial Officer of engineering giant Arup instructed a Hong Kong employee to join a video call. During this call, the CFO and other executives known to the employee ordered a series of bank transfers totalling £20m. The problem? The only real person on the call was the employee. The CFO and everyone else was a deepfake, each looking and sounding enough like the real deal to pull off one of the most sophisticated heists to date.

This may be the highest profile case that has been made public so far, but there have been thousands, if not millions more, and they are happening all around us right now. As you read this, people are sending romantic messages, unaware that their supposed lover doesn't really exist, or receiving voicenotes pleading for bail money from relatives who are, in fact, completely safe, or having their accounts quietly broken into by a voice that sounds just like theirs. A growing number of cases are documented, but through heartbreak or embarrassment or both, many victims never report the scams perpetrated against them, despite how personally devastating they can be.

Whether you're a professional interested in the risks and opportunities afforded by AI, or a teacher looking to inspire students with pressing cutting-edge applications of English language and linguistics, or simply someone fascinated by language and crime, the FACTOR Summer School might just be for you.

Over the course of three days, we'll take you through the worlds of forensic linguistics (FL), forensic speech science (FSS), and in particular, the newest challenge we're all facing – the (mis)use of AI. Within this we'll introduce you to the uniqueness of our voices, the telltale linguistic habits we unconsciously fall into, and how well AI is currently able to replicate them. On the last day you'll take on the role of investigative expert with a high-profile fraud case to solve.

And finally, we hope you'll walk away a little better prepared in case the fraudster's next target happens to be you.