Headline: ИИ облегчает мошенничество на рынке искусства: подделка документов стала более изощренной Translation: AI Facilitates Art Market Fraud: Document Forgery Becomes More Sophisticated

Artificial intelligence is aiding fraudsters in forging provenance documents and authenticity certificates for artworks, as stated by insurance broker Olivia Eccleston, according to the Financial Times.

She noted that this trend has introduced a new layer to the longstanding issue of counterfeiting and fraud in the art market.

One expert in loss adjustment revealed that he received dozens of appraisal certificates as part of an insurance claim concerning a collection of decorative paintings, initially appearing convincing.

However, a mistake made by the applicant led the analyst to suspect forgery. It turned out the documents had been generated using an automated system, with the description field for each individual piece being identical.

Other industry representatives highlighted instances where AI was used maliciously; fraudsters aimed to create fake provenance documentation. There have also been reports of users asking AI to find information about their artworks, only to receive fabricated results.

Angelina Giovanni, co-founder of Flynn & Giovani, remarked that the mechanics of AI make it easy to produce counterfeit documents. Since the neural network is compelled to generate a response, if provided with enough information, “somewhere the LLM will make a guess.”

Experts emphasized that the use of artificial intelligence represents a new twist on old practices. While in the past individuals would steal or forge letterheads of reputable institutions, they now employ modern technology.

“In my career, I have encountered numerous fake documents. It’s not a new phenomenon, but AI has made it more realistic,” said Filippo Gherini-Maraldi, head of fine art at Howden Insurance.

Harry Smith, executive chairman of Gurr Johns, stated that artificial intelligence has streamlined and accelerated the work of fraudsters.

To combat this emerging issue, one can examine metadata in digital documents for signs of AI intervention, a method used by Grace Best-Devereux, a loss adjustment specialist at Sedgwick.

Her colleagues similarly employ LLM tools to verify document authenticity, although this is becoming increasingly challenging due to the ongoing evolution of the technology.

It is worth noting that the U.S. Department of the Treasury used artificial intelligence to analyze data and recover over $4 billion obtained through fraud and misconduct in the 2024 fiscal year.