CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (Heartland News) – Artificial intelligence has just been identified as one of 17 interconnected catastrophic threats to global health and wellbeing.
The report was published October 10 in “The Lancet.”
Authors identify two main threats for the remainder of this century, including nuclear conflict and malicious use of AI.
Authors say those two threats could potentially lead to human extinction.
It’s impossible to say exactly how the development of artificial intelligence will play out, but it is clear that it’s becoming a bigger part of everyday life.
That includes use by scammers and cybercriminals.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Americans reported losing nearly $21 billion in 2025 to cryptocurrency and AI scams.
Dr. Faris Sahawneh is an assistant professor of Cybersecurity and Network Management at Murray State University.
He said as people move more of their lives online, like shopping, banking, communicating and storing health records, the risks are becoming greater.
“We are basically tethered to that phone all the time and it’s online and scammers and cybercriminals know it.”
Dr. Sahawneh said phishing and spoofing are two of the top concerns, especially for senior citizens.
“When we talk about phishing, it’s like me sending you a bait and I want you to kind of bite and I want you to click on that link…Spoofing means that it looks like a number you know. It’s a person that you know. It looks like it’s your bank.”
Using those tactics, Dr. Sahawneh said cybercriminals can prey on two main areas.
“Cybercriminals will use two factors, namely fear and urgency. And somehow when we have fear and urgency, that chemical in our body is induced and bypasses all the safeguards that we should do before we click on that link.”
This is all boosted by the development of AI, making scams tougher to recognize.
“We are no longer looking at that Nigerian aunt that sent you an email with broken grammar and broken English. Now it’s sophisticated. They use AI to generate that e-mail. They use AI to generate an image. And they use an AI to generate a voice.”
Dr. Sahawneh said absolutely anyone can be targeted by cybercriminals, even someone with deep knowledge of cybersecurity.
“Just recently, my son called me, left a voicemail, and it wasn’t my son, and it was his voice. And people are falling into this scam many times because of the sophistication use of AI.”
He said there are three important things for everyone to remember: Stop, think, and verify.
“Stop. And that’s very, very important, those few seconds of making sure that what you’re looking at is true. And think and verify. Call that person.”
Additionally, Dr. Sawhaneh said people need to have a complex password and to never use the same one for both email and banking.
Using multi-factor authentication provides yet another layer of protection.
“Multi-factor authentication is like having two locks on your front door. It’s not enough to have a password that’s strong, but you also have a device where you have a code that’s sent to you to verify that it is you. And never answer somebody who requests that verification code from you.”
Dr. Sahawneh said taking those steps toward safety will help provide peace of mind and may even prevent monetary losses.
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