Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a force for good in our future, that much is obvious from the fact that it's being utilized to advance things like medical research. The thought that somewhere out there, there's a James Bond-like villain in an armchair stroking a cat and using generative AI to hack your PC may seem like fantasy but, quite frankly, it's not. Cyber security experts are already scrambling to thwart millions of threats by hackers that have used generative AI to hack PCs, steal money, credentials, and data, and, with the rapid proliferation of new and improved AI tools, it's only going to get worse. The type of cyberattacks hackers are using aren't necessarily new. They're just more prolific, sophisticated, and effective now that they have weaponized AI.

Users are able to trick ChatGPT into writing code for malicious software applications by entering a prompt that makes the artificial intelligence chatbot respond as if it were in developer mode, Japanese cybersecurity experts said Thursday. The discovery has highlighted the ease with which safeguards put in place by developers to prevent criminal and unethical use of the tool can be circumvented. Amid growing concerns that AI chatbots will lead to more crime and social fragmentation, calls are growing for discussions on appropriate regulations at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima next month and other international forums. This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software. Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites.

ChatGPT continues filling the headlines - but this time for all the wrong reasons, experts have warned. Cybersecurity researchers from Check Point Research (CPR) have observed the tool being used by cybercriminals to improve - and sometimes build from scratch - dangerous malware (opens in new tab) and ransomware. The team released the results of their research, saying they've spotted numerous posts on underground hacking forums in which cybercriminals discuss creating infostealers, encryption tools, and other malware - with the help of ChatGPT. To make matters even worse, some of the authors seem to be complete newbies to the world of programming, signaling that the tool might be used to dramatically lower the barrier to entry into cybercrime. Besides building malware and ransomware, cybercrooks are also using the AI-powered chatbot to build supporting software.

The ChatGPT AI chatbot has created plenty of excitement in the short time it has been available and now it seems it has been enlisted by some in attempts to help generate malicious code. AI writing tools can help lighten your workload by writing emails and essays and even doing math. They use artificial intelligence to generate text or answer queries based on user input. ChatGPT is one popular example, but there are other noteworthy AI writers. ChatGPT is an AI-driven natural language processing tool which interacts with users in a human-like, conversational way. Among other things, it can be used to help with tasks like composing emails, essays and code.