--- title: "AI Knows What You’re Typing Just By Hearing It Over a Zoom" description: "With a startling 93 percent accuracy, a new paper says, AI can tell what you're typing,  — based on background Zoom audio alone." date: "2023-08-08" modified: "2023-08-08" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-typing-zoom" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "cybersecurity" - "machine learning" - "the digest" --- # AI Knows What You’re Typing Just By Hearing It Over a Zoom ![Picture Alliance via Getty / Futurism]() ## Dangerous Mix A new paper claims: With only Zoom audio to go on, an AI can decode keystroke sounds with a startling 93 percent accuracy. And it can decode what — no, not if, but *what* — you're typing. It's an ominous discovery, and the cybersecurity implications loom large. In the (yet-to-be-peer-reviewed) [paper](), a UK-based team of researchers emphasizes the modern ubiquity of microphone-equipped personal devices, which has, in turn, given rise to a new wave of audio-targeted cyberattacks; add "recent developments in deep learning" to the mix, they say, and you have a dangerous cybersecurity cocktail that could leave sensitive information like passwords exposed to savvy bad actors. ## Easy Peasy The researchers' concerns aren't a stretch. Microphones really *are* everywhere, and though the researchers trained their model on a 2021 Macbook Pro, most keyboards out there are more or less the same. So, in theory, if someone were to train their own AI-powered eavesdropping bot, they'd be able to target the vast majority of devices out there, without having to train multiple models. The training process for the "classifier," as the model is referred to in the paper, was also surprisingly simple. The researchers pressed 36 keys on the Macbook Pro a total of 25 times each, recording the keystrokes on two different mediums: a nearby iPhone's microphone and Zoom audio. The program learned from there, and later, when tested on each medium, the classifier achieved respective reading accuracies of 95 and 93 percent. When compared to [similar keystroke readers]() of the [not-so-distant past](), this classifier, according to the research, has proven itself to be the most successful. Call it a sign of the (new cyber-insecure) times. "I can only see the accuracy of such models, and such attacks, increasing," study co-author Ehsan Toreini, a lecturer in software security at the UK's University of Surrey, [told *The Guardian*](), additionally expressing concerns over the prevalence of microphone-equipped smart devices in homes. (Big gulp.) ## Notepad's Revenge If you're now stressed about your own cybersecurity, there remain a few mitigation techniques. AI is still apparently very bad at knowing when you hit the shift button, so incorporating capitals into your passwords might help. You can also try to switch up your typing technique, or simply opt for fingerprint and face-reading safety procedures when available (and, as a general rule, two-step authenticators are a sound security practice.) Still, the next time you're taking minutes on corporate secrets during a video call, consider going analog. **More on cybersecurity in the AI era:** [*Scammers Use Voice Cloning AI to Trick Grandma into Thinking Grandkid Is in Jail*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()