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A new telephone service called Jolly Roger empowers individuals to fight back against pesky telemarketing calls using artificial intelligence (AI). By harnessing ChatGPT and voice modulation software, Jolly Roger generates chatty and easily distracted characters to engage with telemarketers, wasting their time and providing satisfaction to phone owners. With the prevalence of robocalls, Jolly Roger serves as a means to combat these scams effectively.

Trolling telemarketers with AI

Jolly Roger, a telephone service operating for seven years, recently incorporated ChatGPT capabilities into its system. Co-founder Roger Anderson explained that the service creates and reads scripts to telemarketers using digital, fictitious characters. These characters, such as the bumbling senior citizen Whitey Whitebeard or easily distracted mother Salty Sally, engage telemarketers indefinitely, keeping them on the line for 30 minutes.

Users access Jolly Roger’s cloud-based phone system after subscribing to the service. The service also offers accompanying apps that allow users to view, listen to, and share recorded calls between the AI bot and frustrated telemarketers. Furthermore, users can create annoying characters, expanding the possibilities for wasting telemarketers’ time.

Escalating problem of spam calls

The issue of spam calls, which often begin with automated prompts before connecting consumers to a live human, has escalated since 2016. In February 2016, there were 2.28 billion spam calls made to US consumers, reaching a peak of 5.66 billion in October 2019. The number of spam calls remained significant, with 4.7 billion in November 2022 and 5.08 billion in May 2023, as YouMail’s robocall index reported.

Jolly Roger’s founders, Roger Anderson, and Steve Berkson, run the business alongside their day jobs in the telecommunications industry. Anderson mentioned that the initial process involved hiring voice actors to record scripts, with Anderson and Berkson guiding them through the phases. With the integration of ChatGPT, the founders have automated and diversified the process, enabling the creation of more characters and scenarios to engage telemarketers.

The role of ChatGPT and AI-powered text-to-voice technology

ChatGPT plays a crucial role in generating scripts for Jolly Roger’s characters. The generated script is then fed into Play.HT is an AI-powered text-to-voice generator that reads the script in the chosen character’s voice. Friends and family members have contributed to the creation of these personas. For instance, Sid Berkson, Steve Berkson’s father, provided a 45-second sample of his voice, which Play.HT used to clone his voice for the character Whitey Whitebeard.

In the early stages of AI integration, Jolly Roger faced some trial and error. ChatGPT initially hesitated to “waste time” as it deemed itself a helpful AI model. However, Anderson and Berkson fine-tuned the system using super prompts to balance being helpful, funny, and engaging.

The impact of Jolly Roger and government crackdown

While Jolly Roger keeps only a fraction of active scam callers occupied, its AI integration aligns with the government’s efforts to crack down on call centers flooding consumers with robocalls. The formation of the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force and subsequent lawsuits against companies engaging in illegal robocalls demonstrate the ongoing fight against this annoyance.

Jolly Roger’s innovative use of AI to troll telemarketers allows individuals to fight against spam calls. By leveraging ChatGPT and voice modulation software, the service keeps scammers engaged and wastes their time. Although it may only tackle a fraction of active scam callers, Jolly Roger offers relief for those bothered by telemarketers. As efforts to combat robocalls continue, Jolly Roger strives to alleviate the annoyance until a world free of dubious calls from unidentified numbers is achieved.

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