u/AConant

Just dropping a quick thought for your consideration as it occurs to me real time in meat space.

I think you have at least touched on this in your numerous AI conversations though I think the magnitude of this simple reality deserves more attention and focus...not for your show per se, but for all of us. For the species.

I work in IT and have for 40 years. I only mention that as it overlaps with the AI domain in major ways, and it also has driven me to be a (reluctant and initially skeptical) early adopter. I am not an AI developer, but I use AI to develop...and for personal use cases as well.

Although I was initially slow to adopt and often scoffed, I now see the undeniable value and inevitable ongoing progression of AI in our future - and I have my humongous share of FUD about the future we are uncontrollably careening into - its impact on the world and my kids are constantly in my mind these days.

It occurred to me today as I was reflecting on the still-too-common occurrences of hallucinations and errors in my interactions with AI. It's not news...and you have all talked about it.

Those errors can range from tiny and inconsequential to monumental and often hilarious. If you catch them, that is.

Relying on those errors can cascade into disaster...that's obvious.

But what may not be so obvious is how much more important your role is - how much more important critical thinking and skepticism is in the new world and our future.

A huge percentage of our species is already pre-loaded to fail - they do not have the experience and skill let alone the patience to stop and think and question the information they are using. We see that every day and have from time immemorial. See religion for reference. But now it can happen many times a day from the smallest activity to the largest decisions.

That's a scary realization. And it makes your mission and goal that much more important.

[EDIT] I was able to find the UC Davis official website page for payment management and it had very clear announcements of system changes. I used the direct link to go to the site and used the user and password from the emall and it worked - I changed my password. So it appears safe and legit, though I think the whole thing is poorly and insecurity implemented. Leaving this here for other people that may be interested.

Here is a link to the UC DAvis page Student Accounting | Finance & Business

And here is a link to the login location where you should be able to link to and login with the new credentials from the email without using the email embedded link which should be a safer path: https://commerce.cashnet.com/ucdavispay

[Original email below:]

I am a parent of a student at the school. My son says he was asked by the school, via email, to create accounts for his parents for payments. My wife has been setup and paying for over a year so there should be no need for me or her to get new accounts, but the recent hack on Canvas could be a valid reason for such a response.

However, as an IT professional for my whole life with specific experience in Cyber, Security and Identity management, this whole situation and the emails I received are extremely suspicious, especially given the recent hack.

1. The email is unsolicited and there was no prior notification
2. it's supposedly for payments
3. the cashnet domain and link is not specific to UC Davis other than the query string parm. It seems that domain is valid and used by school including Davis, but that is not sufficient evidence as it could be compromised.
4. the email provides explicit directions to guide the user to intentionally subvert security controls - if the link does not work, it informs the user to manually copy and paste
5. The email contains both user name and password in unencrypted text - that is very bad practice and not something I have seen in decades. if the school is doing this, that is very poor design.
6. My wife already has an account - why would the school ask all students to setup new accounts at all ever? Not all students even have parent accounts. And existing parent accounts could be used to identify and communicate with existing payers.
7. The canvas hack is recent, and we know the attackers have communication and student data making the timing very suspicious for payment related data in particular

All that being said, there is a chance this could be real, as a response to the hack, or for changes in their system/billing process.

According to my son, he thinks it is legit and he said "everyone" he knows is doing the same, including roommates, girlfriend and friends.

Does anyone, student or parent or official at the university know if this is legitimate and can provide a link to official information? I will look directly on the university web site.

Thanks and be careful.