HOW PAYPAL IS USING AI TO COMBAT FRAUD, AND MAKE IT EASIER TO PAY

Artificial intelligence has been the buzzword of 2023 ever since ChatGPT made its public debut earlier this year, with businesses, schools, universities and even non-profits looking for ways to integrate AI in their operations.

John Kim, chief product officer for PayPal, spoke about how the company is using the early proliferation of artificial intelligence technologies in its business, as well as PayPal’s future in payments when there’s so much competition. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: HOW HAVE SECURITY ISSUES CHANGED SINCE YOU’VE BEEN IN THIS ROLE OR SIMILAR ROLES? HOW MUCH MORE COMPLICATED OR SOPHISTICATED ARE THREATS OR OPPORTUNITIES TO PROTECT CUSTOMER DATA?

A: One way you you can put it is that the fraud is a pretty big business, it’s growing and getting more sophisticated by the day. It used to be that you would get, let’s say, an email sent to you and you’d find something off about it, right?

Like there’s a misspelling and you think “Gosh, I don’t see this person misspelling this common thing” or the email seems to imply that it doesn’t have a deep understanding of who I am. Then it became voices over the phone trying to convince you to do something. Now people can create whole identities using AI.

Q: HOW ARE YOU INTEGRATING AI INTO THE WORK YOU’RE DOING? WHERE DO YOU SEE THE MOST PROMISE FOR AI IN PAYMENTS?