AI increasingly harnessed by militant groups

More militant groups were noted by national security analysts and spy agencies to be exploring the use of AI in recruitment efforts, deepfakes, and cyberattacks, reports The Associated Press.

Widespread availability of ChatGPT and other AI chatbots has been exploited by extremist organizations to create fake images to convince new members or incite fear and hate among other targets, with the Islamic State reported by SITE Intelligence Group researchers to have used the technology to not only create deepfake audio recordings of its leaders but also translate the messages into various languages.

"For any adversary, AI really makes it much easier to do things. With AI, even a small group that doesn't have a lot of money is still able to make an impact," said ClearVector CEO John Laliberte. However, such AI usage by militant groups was regarded by Darktrace Federal CEO Marcus Fowler as "aspirational" and behind exploitation by Chinese, Russian, or Iranian state-backed hacking operations. Such escalating cybersecurity threats posed by AI have already prompted multiple proposed bills in the U.S.