While artificial intelligence is widely regarded as a driving force for human progress, its potential for misuse presents a growing challenge. Beyond the fears of job displacement or machine dominance, AI’s immediate negative impact is already being felt in more practical, everyday contexts. A striking example is emerging within China’s e-commerce sector, where the technology is being exploited to commit refund fraud (欺骗), causing significant financial losses for online stores.
This issue stems from a consumer-friendly policy that allows customers to receive refunds without returning goods, provided they submit photographic proof of defects or substandard quality. Although never a perfect system, the rise of sophisticated AI editing tools has made it increasingly difficult for businesses to distinguish genuine claims from fabricated ones. Fraudsters are reportedly exploiting this flaw on a large scale, submitting AI-altered images of products—from unfresh food to cracked dishes and torn clothing—to secure refunds. Compounding the problem is the automated review process on many platforms, where algorithms often approve refunds based solely on the perceived realism of the submitted photos, with no human verification.
The core of the crisis lies in AI’s advanced capability to create flawless fake imagery. As noted by Mr. Chen, a fruit seller in Jiaxing, his store received nine suspicious refund applications in three months. Initially trusting, his suspicion grew with the frequency of claims. Even though he spotted traces of digital editing in the photos, the platform rejected his appeal for lack of sufficient evidence to prove the images were AI-generated.
To tackle this issue, some online shopping platforms have launched tools designed to identify AI-generated images and attach warning labels to suspicious ones. Nevertheless, these platforms admit they cannot guarantee the accuracy of such tools. In September, Chinese authorities introduced the Interim Measures for the Management of AI-Generated and Synthetic Content, which requires that all AI-generated images and videos be marked with both visible labels like watermarks and embedded (嵌入) data tags. Despite the ban on removing these labels, effective detection remains a practical challenge in reality, meaning the threat of AI-enabled refund fraud persists.
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1.1. Why does the author give the example of e-commerce fraud at the beginning?
A To warn of future AI dominance.
B To show AI’s direct harmful use.
C To praise AI’s progress in shopping.
D To blame strict refund policies.
解析：选B。1. B推理判断题。第一段在指出AI的潜在滥用后，立即以电商欺诈作为“A striking example”，其核心目的是为前文“AI’s immediate negative impact”提供一个具体、现实的例证，即展示AI直接且有害的实际应用。A项“警告未来AI主宰”属于对“machine dominance”的过度推断，非此例重点；C项“赞扬AI在购物中的进步”与作者表达的负面关切相悖；D项“指责严格的退款政策”与原文“消费者友好政策”不符。故选B。
2.2. What does the underlined word “fabricated” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A Real.
B Official.
C Fake.
D Detailed.
解析：选C。2.C词义猜测题。根据第二段“the rise of sophisticated AI editing tools has made it increasingly difficult for businesses to distinguish genuine claims from fabricated ones”可知，“genuine”意为 “真实的”，“from”体现前后内容的对比关系，由此推断“fabricated”的含义与“真实的”相反，即“虚假的”。故选C。
3.3. What was the main problem Mr. Chen faced when dealing with suspicious refunds?
A He could not spot edited photos.
B The platform ignored his reports.
C Customers refused to return the goods.
D He couldn’t finally prove the photos fake.
解析：选D。3.D细节理解题。根据第三段最后一句，陈先生虽然发现了数字编辑痕迹，但“the platform rejected his appeal for lack of sufficient evidence to prove the images were AI-generated”。因此，他面临的核心困难是无法提供确凿证据证明照片是伪造的。A项“他无法识别被编辑的照片”与文中“he spotted traces”矛盾；B项“平台忽视他的报告”不准确，平台是审核后因证据不足驳回；C项“顾客拒绝退货”在文中未提及。故选D。
4.4. What can be inferred about the current solutions to AI-driven refund fraud?
A They face challenges in practical effectiveness.
B They have stopped the fraud well.
C They depend on fraudsters’ self-discipline.
D They have made human checks unnecessary.
解析：选A。4.A推理判断题。最后一段指出平台的检测工具“cannot guarantee the accuracy”，且法规要求的水印和数据标签在现实中“effective detection remains a practical challenge”。由此可推断，现有解决方案在实际效果和有效执行方面仍面临挑战。B项“它们已成功阻止欺诈”与文末“the threat... persists”矛盾；C项“它们依赖欺诈者的自律”和D项“它们使人工检查变得不必要”均无文本依据。故选A。
