The lull between the footy and the cricket usually means finding something else to watch on TV. And because I love a bit of Kiefer Sutherland in summer, I usually end up revisiting a season of 24.
This year it’s season five, which first aired in 2006. Everyone looks about twelve. There’s Connie Britton, and then Sean Astin turns up at the Counter Terrorist Unit, which raises the question of who put Samwise Gamgee in charge of national security.
Anyway. Jack Bauer is back from the dead, as far as most of his colleagues are concerned. By episode four, the baddies have got him at an airport. They’re threatening to kill a teenage hostage unless Jack talks his own rescue team into coming through an entrance rigged with explosives.
Jack makes the call. Gives CTU the bogus instructions. Then adds one detail.
“I’m in a flank two position.”
The rescue team starts moving. Back at CTU, the bloke from head office wants to read the call transcripts. This is Sean Astin, who’s been there about half an hour and has already annoyed practically everyone.
Turns out he’s the bloke you want reading the paperwork. “Flank two” was the duress code when Jack was an active agent. CTU has since changed it, so the system misses it. He spots it, and the team changes course just in time. 24, season five, episode four
What I like about that scene is that everyone’s right about the voice. It is Jack. He’s counting on someone at the other end knowing what those two words mean, because he can hardly say, “Sorry, Curtis, I’ve got the baddies standing right here.”
Back in February, I gave a voice-cloning tool 15 seconds of my own voice and typed in a sentence I’d never said. About 30 seconds later, there I was, saying it. You can hear the original and the clone here.
I’ve since used that same clone to narrate a couple of videos. These are both all AI
That’s why I’m raising this again. I reckon this is the worst AI voice cloning will ever be. It’s only going to get better. So if the plan at your place is “I’d know if it wasn’t you”, I’d have that conversation again.
Now imagine it’s Friday afternoon. You’re three days into a new job at a real estate agency and your principal rings.
“Hey, the seller’s changed banks. I’ve just spoken to her. Can you update those details before you head off?”
That little I’ve just spoken to her is the awkward bit. Your boss has apparently done the check. How keen are you, on day three, to suggest doing it again?
I’d give everyone in the office two words they can say to anyone, including the person who pays them. “Call-back first.” Agree at the next team meeting what that means. The change waits while the person authorised to update the account rings the seller on the number already verified and held on file. If the seller’s out walking the dog, the old details stay put. WA ScamNet’s guidance on payment requests in property transactions
The call I’d find harder to question, though, is the one that starts, “Mum, can you help me?” If someone you love sounds frightened, of course you want to help. That’s why I’d have this conversation at the dinner table, while everyone’s fine. Allie has three suggestions worth talking through. Watch Allie’s Short
1. Pick a family safe word. Choose a word or phrase together, including with the grandparents. Make it easy to remember and hard to guess from your socials. If someone rings in a panic asking for money, ask, “What’s our word?” Let them supply it. If they can’t, keep the money where it is and check on them yourself.
2. Make the return call yourself. “Hang on, sweets. I’ll FaceTime you.” End the call and use the contact already saved in your phone. FaceTime gives you a chance to see them as well as hear them. Even if they know the word, make that fresh call before you transfer anything. If you can’t reach them, ring someone else in the family who can check on them.
3. Have a listen to what a stranger can hear. If your personal socials are really just for friends and family, consider making them private. Ring your own mobile and listen to what goes to voicemail. Prefer to keep your voice off it? Switch to the default recorded greeting. That’s one less sample of your voice available to anyone who dials your number. If your job involves listing videos, podcasts or reels, there’ll still be recordings of you out there. All the more reason to get the first two steps sorted.
Send this to the people you’d pick a safe word with, then choose one together next time you talk. I’d probably rule out “flank two”. There’s a fair chance someone’s mum has seen season five.
Coming soon – computer use safety. When you give an AI assistant the mouse, what should it be allowed to click, and when should it stop and ask you first?
This column first appeared on Samantha McLean’s Substack, samanthamclean.substack.com.