Pool Re launches report on terrorist exploitation of Artificial Intelligence

A newly published report by Pool Re, the insurance industry’s mutual for reinsuring terrorism risk in Great Britain, and RUSI, the Royal United Services Institute, has warned that terrorists and violent extremists (TVEs), will continue to find novel ways to exploit the UKs changing landscape by means of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The report, written by Dr Simon Copeland, a research fellow in the Terrorism and Conflict research group at RUSI, says AI has already provided large and transformational societal benefits (including counterterrorism and threat detection), but like all technology it also carries the potential for misuse by TVEs:

There is clear evidence that TVEs hold an interest in AI and, in many cases, are actively experimenting with this technology. AI promises to provide TVEs with significant efficiencies for conducting a broad range of activities and operations in certain other situations;AI is likely to offer significant benefits to support TVE’s operations and activities, including the planning, facilitation, and execution of violent attacks;AI holds many promising applications for counterterrorism. This technology is likely to speed up time and labour-intensive processes by helping investigators gain access to secure electronic devices seized from potential suspects;Although AI continues to develop at a rapid pace, understanding how existing AI models work can help assess how and where they are likely to be beneficial to TVEs;TVE uptake is likely to be incremental and will be dictated by multiple factors including actors’ own perceptions of AI technology as well as changing societal and counterterrorism trends.

The timely report explores ‘propaganda production’ and distribution, the potency of AI powdered software applications which fuel radicalisation, assesses the use of AI both in operations and activities, and goes on to analyse the outlook for AI over the next 10 years as it moves out of an ‘experimental’ phase.

Download a copy of the report HERE