Hackers could 'weaponise AI', with devastating consequences

Advancements in artificial intelligence could be exploited by criminals in order to launch automated cyber attacks, manipulate public opinion through fake videos, or weaponise commercial drones, researchers warned yesterday. A joint report from policy experts from Cambridge, Oxford and Yale universities, as well as military experts, claimed that attacks using AI by rogue states and criminal groups poses an imminent threat to both physical and political security. The 98-page'Malicious Use of Artificial Intelligence' report also calls for policymakers and researchers to examine and prepare for the possibility of the technology being manipulated, and to take greater care when publishing notes on their findings. Despite the potential benefits of AI to society, there are concerns that the technology is being developed with little regard to public safety, particularly when it comes to machine learning and training computers to be as intelligent as humans, according to the report. "We all agree there are a lot of positive applications of AI," said Miles Brundage, a research fellow at Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, speaking to Reuters.