AI ripe for exploitation, experts warn

The threat of AI is real and many of the technologies are already developed, warn 26 leading experts

Drones turned into missiles, fake videos manipulating public opinion and automated hacking are just three of the threats from artificial intelligence in the wrong hands, experts have said.

The Malicious Use of Artificial Intelligence report warns that AI is ripe for exploitation by rogue states, criminals and terrorists.

Those designing AI systems need to do more to mitigate possible misuses of their technology, the authors said. And governments must consider new laws.


The report calls for:

• Policy-makers and technical researchers to work together to understand and prepare for the malicious use of AI

• A realisation that, while AI has many positive applications, it is a dual-use technology and AI researchers and engineers should be mindful of and proactive about the potential for its misuse

• Best practices that can and should be learned from disciplines with a longer history of handling dual use risks, such as computer security

• An active expansion of the range of stakeholders engaging with, preventing and mitigating the risks of malicious use of AI

Speaking to the BBC, Shahar Avin, from Cambridge University's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, explained that the report concentrated on areas of AI that were available now or likely to be available within five years, rather than looking to the distant future.