Houston expert discusses AI use in banking and phishing scams

GUEST COLUMN

AI carries security risks in banking, including being used by scammers to target financial information. Photo via Getty Images

With artificial intelligence technologies easily accessible and growing in popularity, consumers and business owners alike should be aware of both the benefits and risks when it comes to the utilization of generative AI tools in banking and finance. While data-driven AI creates the opportunity to further drive innovation in banking, the data-reliant nature of the industry makes it a natural target for scammers looking to intercept personal and business finances and sensitive customer information.

As banks and other financial service providers are using AI as a tool to scan for anomalies or errors that are known fraud techniques, criminals are using AI to improve their chances of perpetrating fraud. For this reason, consumers and businesses should guard their data with the same diligence used to guard cash and other valuable physical property.

Privacy and accuracy

For entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes, it is important to keep in mind the practical applications of AI beyond the trending headlines, whether implementing the technology into everyday internal business practices, or into client-facing solutions.

When feeding information into AI, it is best to maintain a defensive position and be proactive about not disclosing sensitive or private information. Also, rely on sound judgment when deciding when and how to use AI technologies. From a business standpoint, privacy should be embedded into a financial system’s design and leaders should be transparent about the technologies used within a given system.

Technologies like ChatGPT are large language models operating on massive datasets, including documents and web pages across the internet. This poses a risk because some sources of this data lack accuracy. When seeking financial advice via AI technologies, it is best to conduct research by curating and limiting the dataset then talking through your unique financial position in person with your trusted banker and IT staff or consultants.

Phishing and business email compromise via AI

Historically, phishing and business email compromise, or BEC, attempts have been more easily recognizable and often flushed out due to grammatical errors and unnecessary punctuation. With technologies like ChatGPT, scammers are now better equipped to draft well written content that can fool a person into thinking a communication is legitimate. Phishing can lead to people clicking links or attachments that harbor malware or other viruses that can lead to account takeover. With BEC, a person might be fooled into thinking an email is from a legitimate person. Scams like these could potentially lead to the disclosing of sensitive information or accepting transaction instructions or changes, ultimately resulting in money being sent to a fraudster.

AI voice generators

AI voice generators can be used to mimic voices of anyone including bankers, C-suite leaders and customers. If a person is fooled into believing they have received a voicemail or are talking to a person they know, they may accept instructions from a fraudster like providing transaction approvals and sensitive or private information, resulting in fraud.

AI can also create fake identities, including AI-developed photos of individuals, and other false information. These fake identities could be used to create accounts for fraudulent purposes.

AI is here to stay

AI is forecasted to have a lasting impact on the banking industry. Whether on the business or consumer side of the spectrum, it will be important to embrace the innovation and enhancements generative AI will continue to produce, while maintaining a cautionary stance around protecting client and business information and finances. Fraud prevention practices will need to continue evolving alongside the fast-paced growth of generative AI in banking.

------

Ken Smiley is treasury management division manager of Amegy Bank and a fraud protection expert.

From Your Site Articles

Ad Placement 300x100

Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Texas solar power poised to surpass coal for the first time in 2026

Powering Texas

Solar power promises to shine even brighter in Texas this year.

A new forecast from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates that for the first time, annual power generation from utility-scale solar will surpass annual power generation from coal across the territory covered by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

Solar generation is expected to reach 78 billion kilowatt-hours in 2026 in the ERCOT grid, compared with 60 billion kilowatt-hours for coal, the EIA forecast says. The ERCOT grid supplies power to about 90 percent of Texas, including the Houston area.

“Utility-scale solar generation has been increasing steadily in ERCOT as solar capacity additions help meet rapid electricity demand growth,” the forecast says.

Although natural gas remains the dominant source of electricity generation in ERCOT, accounting for an average 44 percent of electricity generation from 2021 to 2025, solar’s share of the generation mix rose from four percent to 12 percent. During the same period, coal’s share dropped from 19 percent to 13 percent.

EIA predicts about 40 percent of U.S. solar capacity, or 14 billion kilowatt-hours, added in 2026 will come from Texas.

Although EIA expects annual solar generation to exceed annual coal generation in 2026, solar surpassed coal in ERCOT on a monthly basis for the first time in March 2025, when solar generation totaled 4.33 billion kilowatt-hours and coal’s totaled 4.16 billion kilowatt-hours. Solar generation continued to exceed that of coal until August of that year.

“In 2026, we estimate that solar exceeded coal for the first time in March, and we forecast generation from solar installations in ERCOT will continue to exceed that from coal until December, when coal generation exceeds solar,” says EIA. “We expect solar generation to exceed that of coal for every month in 2027 except January and December.”

For 2027, EIA forecasts annual solar generation of 99 billion kilowatt-hours in the ERCOT grid, compared with 66 billion kilowatt-hours of annual coal generation.

In April, ERCOT projected almost 368 billion kilowatt-hours of demand in ERCOT’s territory by 2032. ERCOT’s all-time peak demand hit 85.5 billion kilowatt-hours in August 2023.

“Texas is experiencing exceptional growth and development, which is reshaping how large load demand is identified, verified, and incorporated into long-term planning,” ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas said. “As a result of a changing landscape, we believe this forecast to be higher than expected … load growth.”

---

This article first appeared on EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

Intuitive Machines strikes $49.3M deal to expand lunar communications network

space deal

Houston-based Intuitive Machines is bulking up its space-to-ground data network with the acquisition of United Kingdom-based Goonhilly Earth Station and its U.S. arm, COMSAT.

The $49.3 million cash-and-stock deal would add 44 antennas to Intuitive Machines’ network. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter.

Intuitive Machines, a space infrastructure and services company, designs, builds, and operates spacecraft and data networks for lunar and deep-space missions. Goonhilly operates a satellite Earth station in Cornwall, England.

Intuitive Machines says Goonhilly’s and COMSAT’s civil, commercial, and government customers will complement its current customer base and broaden its reach into related sectors.

“Customers have been clear that they want a single, integrated, and resilient solution for their communications and [position, navigation, and timing] needs as they accelerate missions at an unprecedented pace,” Steve Altemus, co‑founder and CEO of Intuitive Machines, said in a news release.

Kenn Herskind, executive chairman of Goonhilly, says the acquisition “will allow us to scale that capability globally and directly support the next era of lunar exploration. Together, we will be creating a commercial lunar communications network that is interoperable, resilient, and ready to support Artemis and international missions.”

Modular nuclear reactor co. NuScale Power moves into Houston market

New to Hou

The nuclear energy renaissance continues in Texas with an announcement by NuScale Power. The Oregon-based provider of proprietary and innovative advanced small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology announced in April it would be opening office space in Houston’s CityCentre.

“Opening this space in Houston underscores our commitment to meeting rising energy demand with safe, scalable nuclear technology,” John Hopkins, NuScale president and CEO, said in a news release. “This move expands our presence in a key market for partners, prospective customers, and stakeholders in addition to positioning us for the future as we focus on the near-term deployment of our industry-leading technology. Texas is leading the way in embracing advanced nuclear for grid resilience and industrial decarbonization, and we’re proud to expand our footprint and capabilities in this important region.”

Interest in nuclear power has been growing in recent years thanks to tensions with oil-rich nations, concerns about man-made climate change from fossil fuels, and the rapidly increasing power needs of data centers. Both Dow and Texas A&M University have announced expanded nuclear power projects in the last year, with an eye of changing the face of Texas’s energy industry through smaller, safer fission reactors.

Enter NuScale, founded in 2007 from technology developed at the University of Oregon. Their modular SMR technology generates 77 megawatts and is one of the only small modular reactors (SMR) to receive design approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). These advances have led to runaway success for NuScale, whose stock has risen by more than 1,670 percent since the start of 2024.

The new operations campus in CityCentre is expected to facilitate the movement, installation and coordination of NuScale technology into the various energy systems. Typically, SMRs are used for off-grid installations, desalination operations, mining facilities and similar areas that lack infrastructure. However, the modularity means that they can be easily deployed to a variety of areas.

It comes none too soon. ERCOT projects that Texas data centers alone will require 77,965 megawatts by 2030.

---