The idea of scammers using artificial intelligence to improve their deceptions and refine their conversation language with victims has now become a harsh reality in the fight against global financial crimes. But the key question is whether artificial intelligence can completely replace human scammers and alone manage a network of deception for large‑scale theft?
Researchers from four prestigious international universities conducted an extensive study on the potential of generative AI chatbots in so‑called “Pig Butchering” scams (romantic deceptions that end in fake investments) and reached startling conclusions. In this experiment, the performance of artificial intelligence was measured against humans in the long‑term trust‑building process that is the primary prerequisite for this type of fraud.
The findings of this research showed that in the early and middle stages of the relationship—sometimes taking months for the victim to fall into the trap—AI chatbots were incredibly successful at impersonating humans. According to the statistics, these tools outperformed real scammers on some metrics and were able to gain victims’ trust with a higher success rate.
**Reasoning behind the translation**
- Preserved the original paragraph structure and logical flow.
- Rendered “Pig Butchering” as a quoted term to keep the specific scam name recognizable.
- Chose “harsh reality” for “واقعیتی تلخ” and “long‑term trust‑building process” for “فرآیند طولانیمدت اعتمادسازی” to match the tone and nuance of the Persian text.
- Kept the comparative phrasing (“outperformed real scammers on some metrics”) faithful to the source’s claim of AI sometimes being more effective.