Recently, my husband met with a candidate running to become the next governor of Texas. The story he brought home that night was truly heartbreaking.

This candidate shared that she had recently met with a group of people at a school. At the end of the gathering, she gave a young girl a hug. Photos were being snapped left and right, as they do with media coverage. Behind them stood several state flags.

Later that very same evening, she saw an altered version of that moment being spread. In the new image, the state flags had been changed to “rainbow flags” and a message had been added connecting transgender issues to the moment.

They took an innocent hug with a little girl and spun a story into something completely false faster than your head could spin!

A real photograph. Real people. A real moment.

Suddenly, it’s being used to tell a totally slanted story.

This stopped me in my tracks and got me thinking about this wild AI world we are living in! As AI-generated images, videos and voices become more and more convincing, knowing how to protect your family business and yourself from AI fakes becomes exceedingly important!

AI Can Create the Evidence for Almost Any Story

Whether that particular image was changed using AI or another editing tool, it points to a much larger concern:

AI can create the evidence for almost any story someone wants you to believe. Our responsibility is to pursue what is true.

We have always known that headlines are written to gain attention. That’s true in news, advertising and good marketing. But gaining attention and telling the whole truth are not the same thing.

Today, a photograph can be altered in seconds. A voice can be copied. A video can place words into someone’s mouth. A realistic email can be written in another person’s style.

Anything can be used for good or also to be used with malicious intent, anything! Deception doesn’t belong to just one belief system or side of an issue. This means it’s imperative we become far more thoughtful about what we accept as truth.

Be most skeptical when a story seems designed to make you instantly choose a side.

If something immediately makes you angry, afraid or ready to condemn someone, pause. Don’t let an image, headline or video tell you what to believe, especially when the matter is important.

Find the original source. Look for the full context. Dig deeper.

What Does This Have to Do With Your Family Business?

More than you imagine.

Picture receiving a voicemail from your father telling you to transfer money immediately. It sounds exactly like him.

Imagine an employee receiving a video of the company president making a damaging statement, but in reality, the president never said it.

Or someone alters a photograph, creates a false announcement or gains access to a trusted account and begins sharing information in your company’s name.

An AI fake doesn’t have to fool the entire world. It only has to fool the right person for a moment.

In a family business, trust runs deep. Family members recognize one another’s voices. Employees respond when the owner makes an urgent request. Vendors trust messages that appear to come from familiar people.

Those relationships are a strength, but the ill-will of some who are skilled in the art of deception can use that trust against you if you’re not staying cautiously careful.

Protect Your Business with These 3 Actions

1 – Stop Before You Believe, React, or Share

AI-generated content often succeeds by creating an immediate emotional response. Anger, fear and urgency push us to react before we investigate.

Before believing something that changes how you see a person, business or important issue, stop and verify that what you’re seeing is real.

Ask:

• Where did this originate?
• Can I find the original image, video or statement?
• Is the full context available?
• Are trustworthy sources reporting the same information?
• Is this designed to inform me or provoke me?

The stronger your reaction, the more important it is to slow down.

2 – Verify Important Requests Another Way

If you receive an unexpected request involving money, sensitive information or immediate action, verify it through a separate and trusted method.

Call the person using a phone number you already know. Speak face-to-face when ever possible. Never use the contact information contained in the questionable message.

The Federal Trade Commission gives the same guidance for AI voice-cloning scams: don’t trust the voice alone; contact the person directly using a number you know belongs to them.

Even if the voice sounds right, the email looks familiar or the request includes personal details, take the extra step.

Seeing and hearing are no longer enough to confirm someone’s identity.

3 – Decide What Your Team Will Do Before It Happens

Your employees need to know what to do when something doesn’t seem right.

Create simple safeguards:

• Require 2 people to approve payments or banking changes
• Establish a verification phrase known only to key family members and leaders
• Give employees permission to question unusual or urgent requests, even when they appear to come from an owner
• Decide who will respond if false information involving your company begins to spread

A few minutes spent establishing these protections now can prevent a convincing fake from becoming a very real business crisis.

Pursuing the Truth Still Matters

AI fakes are becoming more convincing, but we are not powerless. We can slow down, ask better questions and refuse to let fear, anger or urgency make decisions for us.

Technology can manufacture an image, imitate a voice and create a believable story.

It cannot remove our responsibility to pursue the truth and protect the people and businesses entrusted to us.