Over the past year, I received through email many personal invitations to attend milestone family celebrations of people I’ve known over the course of my life and career. These invitations always include a link to the details of the event and a request to send an RSVP.

I got one this week from an elderly man I’ve known for almost 40 years to celebrate with him and his family a milestone happy event. The only problem with the invitation is that he died more than a year ago.

I know I’m not alone in receiving these kinds of emails or robocalls seeking personal information from companies with which I do business. I do not click on the link or respond to any phone call requesting my immediate action as I’m almost certain they are all scams seeking entry into my email address book, personal computer, social security number, or checking account. If I have a question about their legitimacy, however, in a separate email or phone call to the individual or company to confirm what I received. Virtually every one of them confessed that their address book had been hacked and there was no family event forthcoming and that the company never calls clients’ personal phone numbers and requests over the phone personal information.

In this age of AI, these can ruin the innocent and steal bank accounts and more.

On a much larger scale, I recommend listening to Ezra Klein’s most recent podcast interview with Bill Gates on the pluses and minuses of AI and the vital need for Congress to pass legislation that will control what Gates describes as dangers far worse than nuclear war and to enter into international treaties with China and other nations to control AI threats.