OpenAI’s Sora 2 lets you build a digital version of yourself for videos, ads, and social posts. Cool idea … until your AI twin ends up in the wrong hands.
Protecting yourself from voice scams
ChatGPT
Voice cloning has left the lab. Soon enough, you might hear your voice and think, Wait, is that me or an AI?
AI isn’t just being used to revive dead rappers or prank your boss with Drake impressions. Scammers are generating voices to fake kidnappings, drain bank accounts and impersonate your kid in crisis.
You don’t need to have a national radio show like me to be at risk. If you’ve ever left a voicemail, been in a podcast or posted a TikTok, congrats, you’re cloneable, and it only takes three to five seconds.
🎭 Your voice is a liability
Your voiceprint is incredibly personal. Research shows it can be as unique as a fingerprint or iris scan, with over 100 distinct vocal traits like pitch, tone, cadence and accent used to identify you.
To the human ear, voices can sound similar. Around 15% of people can be mistaken for someone else in audio recordings. But to an AI? Those subtle vocal quirks are easy to clone, especially with just a few seconds of audio.
It’s weird, dystopian and very much happening.
🗣️ Protect yourself
Here’s how to make sure you don’t get duped by a fake version of yourself (or your loved ones):
🔒 Lock down your privacy settings: Set your videos and voice clips to “friends only” or private. Delete any old uploads you don’t need floating around.
🤫 Treat your voice like a password: Create a family-only “safe word.” Something weird like “don’t forget the goat cheese,” an inside joke or phrase no AI could guess. Agree that no one sends money or help unless that phrase is used.
📵 Limit voice exposure: If the cat’s already out of the bag (mine is), there’s still time to cut back. Use visual voicemail or call-to-text instead of recordings. Skip voice notes in group chats.
Sora 2: The AI video tool that’s already out of control
Hawking - @DrClownPhD on X, JFK - @dailysopranosofficial on TikTok, Mr. Rogers and Tupac - @itsthegthang and @euphanasiamusic on Instagram
I have to tell you about Sora 2. It’s OpenAI’s new video-generating app that’s both mind-blowing and terrifying.
It’s the first tool from any AI company that lets you give it a prompt, and in literally seconds, you get a full-blown, AI-generated video up to a minute long. The results aren’t perfect, but they’re close. Like Hollywood close.
Make AI dad go away: Zelda Williams slammed fans for sending AI-generated clips of her late father, Robin Williams, calling them “disgusting, over-processed hotdogs” of human art. She said he’d never want his voice or face used that way, and I get it. Let him rest, folks. Chill out on the deepfake Sora 2 celeb videos.
Share YouTube videos from a time stamp: On desktop, pause the video where you want it to start. Right-click and select Copy video URL at current time. Or copy the top link from your browser and add &t=2m30s to the end (swap in your own time) to go straight to that moment.
Musk made me do it: Look, if “Elon Musk” messages you about a hot crypto deal, it’s fraud not fate. Scammers are out there pretending to be him, using fake videos, livestreams and even his mom to vouch for the hustle. Folks have lost anywhere from 10 grand to a quarter million dollars. Some even think they’re dating him. Spoiler: You’re not.
Boost your YouTube channel: If you want the algorithm to help people discover your videos, add channel tags. On desktop, click your profile picture and open YouTube Studio. In the left panel, go to Settings > Channel > Basic info. Under Keywords, fill in things like “lifestyle vlog” or “easy recipes,” and hit Save.
🤖 Meta dropped Vibes: It’s not a separate app but part of your Meta AI now. It’s like Instagram Reels, but you can’t post real videos, only AI-generated ones. You just remix whatever the bots spit out and call it content. Who even asked for this algorithmic soup?
✅ Back it up, or risk losing it. Total Drive automatically backs up your precious memories, family photos, graduation videos and all your important documents. Get 10TB for just $18 with this limited time offer.
Will I use AI to bring my mom back?
An AI startup offered to build me a digital avatar of my late mom using photos, videos, and recordings. Thousands of you wrote to me about it. In this show, I reveal my emotional decision.
😎 Be a pal: Click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Costs nothing and makes my videos easier to find than your glasses on a Monday morning.
🚨 Scrape me up before you go-go: The Atlantic just dropped a seriously creepy tool. Type in your name, and it’ll show whether your YouTube videos were quietly scraped to train AI. No permission, no payment, just … surprise! You helped build someone else’s billion-dollar model. I popped up 75 times. Unreal. Search for your name here.
🔔 Turn on Instagram post notifications: Following too many accounts? Don’t miss updates from your favorites. Take me as an example. Go to my profile, tap the bell icon and toggle All for Posts, Stories, Reels and Live videos.
📖 Bible goes cinematic: Pray.com is cranking out AI-generated Bible videos (think seven-headed dragons, collapsing cities and angels that look like superheroes). Millions are watching, mostly guys under 30. Theologians say it cheapens Scripture into a “Don’t forget to like and pray!” social media plea, but Pray’s team calls it “the Marvel Universe of faith.”
✈️ Board to be wild: “Airport theory” videos on TikTok dare you to show up 15 minutes before boarding. Maybe you’ll get lucky with TSA PreCheck or a delay, but odds are you’re dropping $400 on a rebook and crying at a Holiday Inn. Most clips are staged. Real advice? Two hours domestic, three for international.
🤳🏻 Instagram finally has an iPad app: It’s different from the phone version. The app opens straight into a feed of Reels, with a new Following tab to see posts in chronological order. Comments show beside videos, and the DM page displays your inbox next to chats. Download it here, and drop me a follow for more tips.
⚡️ 3-second tech genius: In Chrome, quickly mute a noisy tab by right-clicking it and selecting Mute site. Saves your ears from those annoying autoplay videos that pop up out of nowhere. You’re welcome.
YouTube turns up the hype: Its new “Hype” feature lets you boost up to three small-creator videos a week. Those picks land on a special leaderboard, giving underdog channels a real shot at the spotlight. Look for the shiny “hyped” badge in your feed, and hit it for me now and then.
Add subtitles to YouTube videos: They’ll help you reach a bigger audience. On desktop, go to YouTube Studio and select Subtitles on the left. Choose your video, Set the language and Confirm. Then click Add under Subtitles. Upload a file or type them out manually. When you’re ready, hit Publish.
Social stalker tech: TikTok Shop has GPS trackers with viral videos literally teaching people how to spy on their partners. One got 5 million views. The cheapo trackers with a SIM card (over 100,000 sold) are still on sale all over for as little as $12. If your relationship needs a GPS tracker, maybe it needs therapy instead. Just saying.