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    Daisy, an AI granny wasting scammers' time

    (news.virginmediao2.co.uk)
    706 points ortusdux | 13 comments | 14 Nov 24 16:52 UTC | HN request time: 1.275s | source | bottom
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    xnx ◴[14 Nov 24 17:47 UTC] No.42138885[source]▶
    Seems like the logical endpoint of a lot of this is people getting paid directly for their attention. Want to call me? I've set a price of $5/call that I answer, and an additional $10/minute of listen time after the first 10 seconds. Want to send me an email? $1/email and $5/100 words. Anyone I have emailed is automatically on my allow-list, which I can also adjust manually.
    replies(12): >>42139147 #>>42139164 #>>42139519 #>>42139522 #>>42139766 #>>42141330 #>>42141511 #>>42141816 #>>42142129 #>>42143384 #>>42143710 #>>42144710 #
    1. guidoism ◴[14 Nov 24 18:36 UTC] No.42139519[source]▶
    That's similar to the idea I had for combating texting spam: - If your number is in my address book then texts are free for you - If this is the first time you are contacting me then you pay me $1

    There are probably downsides and ways this will screw up real relationships but it will certainly increase the cost of spam.

    replies(2): >>42139601 #>>42141223 #
    2. Nition ◴[14 Nov 24 18:42 UTC] No.42139601[source]▶
    One issue I can forsee:

    - Every contractor (plumber etc) you hire will ask you to please add them to your contact list first so that they can message you.

    - After a while of half their clients not doing that and lots of fees on their end, contractors stop providing a phone number at all, asking you to please install ContractorApp to communicate with them.

    replies(5): >>42139777 #>>42139815 #>>42140812 #>>42141207 #>>42146202 #
    3. thejazzman ◴[14 Nov 24 18:55 UTC] No.42139777[source]▶
    I love every part of this. Not having things in writing is one of the most common tactics with bad contractors. And I miss their call backs because I have unknowns goto spam, so I have to remember to disable that feature...
    4. crummy ◴[14 Nov 24 18:57 UTC] No.42139815[source]▶
    Maybe when you first receive a text you see:

    This message is from an unknown number. (Accept / Block / Charge sender $1)

    replies(2): >>42139955 #>>42144687 #
    5. telgareith ◴[14 Nov 24 19:10 UTC] No.42139955{3}[source]▶
    Well, that just invokes we-had-a-baby-its-a-boy
    replies(1): >>42140402 #
    6. sailfast ◴[14 Nov 24 19:50 UTC] No.42140402{4}[source]▶
    They had a baby.

    It’s a boy!

    That said - perhaps harder to change the name that shows up as quickly as you could leave a recorded name? :)

    Still one of the best ads ever made.

    7. zeroonetwothree ◴[14 Nov 24 20:26 UTC] No.42140812[source]▶
    They already charge $200 so I doubt $1 extra is going to matter.
    8. asah ◴[14 Nov 24 21:04 UTC] No.42141207[source]▶
    one click to add from the first message = $1 total cost.

    contractors can add this to their invoices if they care.

    9. jameshart ◴[14 Nov 24 21:06 UTC] No.42141223[source]▶
    You just made the new scam ‘persuading you to text me’. I get $1 for everyone I fool!
    replies(1): >>42142547 #
    10. odo1242 ◴[14 Nov 24 23:46 UTC] No.42142547[source]▶
    Presumably the money would go to the telecom company, I think. Still very good for trolls though.
    11. Nition ◴[15 Nov 24 07:36 UTC] No.42144687{3}[source]▶
    Ha! Okay, I like this, I think it changes my mind on the whole thing being viable. There's probably some reason it wouldn't work in reality but the satisfaction from pressing the charge $1 option on spam would be huge.

    I disagree about the we-adda-baby-itsa-boy issue. I don't see how that'd apply given that you can charge them $1 from the very first message.

    12. GoblinSlayer ◴[15 Nov 24 12:14 UTC] No.42146202[source]▶
    Here they do already use watsapp, viber etc for communication, maybe because they are cheaper.

    >Every contractor (plumber etc) you hire will ask you to please add them to your contact list first so that they can message you.

    This is reasonable. If they want to reach me, they should whitelist in advance instead of hoping they can randomly get through.

    replies(1): >>42149577 #
    13. red-iron-pine ◴[15 Nov 24 18:34 UTC] No.42149577{3}[source]▶
    aye. i have a business relationship with these people, let me know how to communicate with you ahead of time so I can whitelist or clear that.