WhatsApp is introducing a new artificial intelligence-powered feature designed to help users identify potentially fraudulent chats and protect themselves from scams.
According to a report, the scam detection feature will use on-device AI to flag suspicious conversations while maintaining the protection provided by end-to-end encryption.
The feature works by downloading a machine-learning model directly onto the user’s smartphone. The model analyzes messages from people whose phone numbers are not saved in the user’s contacts and assesses the language and pattern of the conversation for signs of potential fraud.
If a conversation is identified as potentially suspicious, WhatsApp will display a warning to the user. The warning will not be visible to the other person involved in the chat.
Users can then choose to block or report the sender, continue the conversation or mark the chat as trusted. Once a conversation is marked as trusted, WhatsApp will stop displaying scam alerts for that chat.
The company said the AI model has been trained to identify fraudulent activity.
Meta also said the feature would not compromise users’ privacy because the AI model operates on their devices and the company would not have access to their messages.