WASHINGTON (AP) — As the rest of the world rushes to harness the power of artificial intelligence, militant groups also are experimenting with the technology, even if they aren't sure exactly what to do with it.
For extremist organizations, AI could be a powerful tool for recruiting new members, churning out realistic deepfake images and refining their cyberattacks, national security experts and spy agencies have warned.
Someone posting on a pro-Islamic State group website last month urged other IS supporters to make AI part of their operations. “One of the best things about AI is how easy it is to use,” the user wrote in English.
“Some intelligence agencies worry that AI will contribute (to) recruiting,” the user continued. “So make their nightmares into reality.”
IS, which had seized territory in Iraq and Syria years ago but is now a decentralized alliance of militant groups that share a violent ideology, realized years ago that social media could be a potent tool for recruitment and disinformation, so it's not surprising that the group is testing out AI, national security experts say.
For loose-knit, poorly resourced extremist groups — or even an individual bad actor with a web connection — AI can be used to pump out propaganda or deepfakes at scale, widening their reach and expanding their influence.
“For any adversary, AI really makes it much easier to do things,” said John Laliberte, a former vulnerability researcher at the National Security Agency who is now CEO of cybersecurity firm ClearVector. “With AI, even a small group that doesn't have a lot of money is still able to make an impact.”
Militant groups began using AI as soon as programs like ChatGPT became widely accessible. In the years since, they have increasingly used generative AI programs to create realistic-looking photos and video.
When strapped to social media algorithms, this fake content can help recruit new believers, confuse or frighten enemies and spread propaganda at a scale unimaginable just a few years ago.
Such groups spread fake images two years ago of the Israel-Hamas war depicting bloodied, abandoned babies in bombed-out buildings. The images spurred outrage and polarization while obscuring the war's actual horrors. Violent groups in the Middle East used the photos to recruit new members, as did antisemitic hate groups in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Something similar happened last year after an attack claimed by an IS affiliate killed nearly 140 people at a concert venue in Russia. In the days after the shooting, AI-crafted propaganda videos circulated widely on discussion boards and social media, seeking new recruits.
IS also has created deepfake audio recordings of its own leaders reciting scripture and used AI to quickly translate messages into multiple languages, according to researchers at SITE Intelligence Group, a firm that tracks extremist activities and has investigated IS' evolving use of AI.
Such groups lag behind China, Russia or Iran and still view the more sophisticated uses of AI as “aspirational,” according to Marcus Fowler, a former CIA agent who is now CEO at Darktrace Federal, a cybersecurity firm that works with the federal government.
But the risks are too high to ignore and are likely to grow as the use of cheap, powerful AI expands, he said.
Hackers are already using synthetic audio and video for phishing campaigns, in which they try to impersonate a senior business or government leader to gain access to sensitive networks. They also can use AI to write malicious code or automate some aspects of cyberattacks.
More concerning is the possibility that militant groups may try to use AI to help produce biological or chemical weapons, making up for a lack of technical expertise. That risk was included in the Department of Homeland Security's updated Homeland Threat Assessment, released earlier this year.
“ISIS got on Twitter early and found ways to use social media to their advantage,” Fowler said. “They are always looking for the next thing to add to their arsenal.”
Lawmakers have floated several proposals, saying there’s an urgent need to act.
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, for instance, that the U.S. must make it easier for AI developers to share information about how their products are being used by bad actors, whether they are extremists, criminal hackers or foreign spies.
“It has been obvious since late 2022, with the public release of ChatGPT, that the same fascination and experimentation with generative AI the public has had would also apply to a range of malign actors,” Warner said.
During a recent hearing on extremist threats, House lawmakers learned that IS and al-Qaida have held training workshops to help supporters learn to use AI.
Legislation that passed the U.S. House last month would require homeland security officials to assess the AI risks posed by such groups each year.
Guarding against the malicious use of AI is no different from preparing for more conventional attacks, said Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, the bill’s sponsor.
“Our policies and capabilities must keep pace with the threats of tomorrow,” he said.
FILE - Demonstrators chant pro-Islamic State slogans as they carry the group's flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad on June 16, 2014. (AP Photo, File)
HONG KONG (AP) — To his supporters, former media mogul Jimmy Lai is a fighter for democracy. To his opponents, he's a traitor to his motherland.
Now, he could face life in prison after being convicted of conspiracies to commit sedition and collusion with foreign forces in a landmark trial that began in 2023.
Lai, 78, is an outspoken critic of China’s ruling Communist Party who was arrested in 2020 under a national security law following massive anti-government protests that rocked Hong Kong the year before.
His arrest and the closure of his Apple Daily newspaper, a tabloid-style publication that backed the democracy movement, dealt a blow to free speech in a city that was once a bastion of press freedom in Asia.
Born in mainland China, Lai was just 12 when he arrived in Hong Kong on a fishing boat as a stowaway, hoping for a better life in the then-British colony. He began working as a child laborer in a glove factory, where he was introduced to the garment industry. He later founded the popular casual wear chain Giordano in 1981.
But a pivotal moment for Lai was the Beijing deadly crackdown on the 1989 student-led pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square: His company printed T-shirts in support of the protests and he became interested in media to disseminate information.
He founded Next Magazine in 1990, and five years later, Apple Daily. The news outlet attracted a strong following with its sometimes sensational reports, investigative scoops and short animated video reports. Being openly critical of the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, the newspaper was well-received among pro-democracy readers.
In 1994, he insulted then-Chinese Premier Li Peng, calling him “the son of a turtle egg,” an offensive slur in Chinese culture, after Li justified the Tiananmen crackdown. China pressured the Giordano brand and Lai had to sell his stake in the company.
His long-time friend Lee Wing-tat, also an activist, said Lai was a firm believer in democracy, freedom and the “small government, big market” economic principle, which emphasizes minimal state intervention and free trade. This was shaped by his childhood experience in mainland China, where his family suffered under the Communist Party's rule, and his rags-to-riches journey in the city, Lee said.
Lai organized informal gatherings for pro-democracy lawmakers and scholars to discuss policies over meals in the 1990s, in the hopes of influencing politicians, Lee said.
He also took to the streets, including massive pro-democracy protests in 2014, known as the Umbrella Movement, and made donations to pro-democracy parties, including one that Lee used to chair. His newspaper often urged readers to join protests.
Lai was among the demonstrators in the leaderless anti-government protests in 2019. He met with then-U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the time to discuss the developments linked to a now-withdrawn bill that sparked the unrest, angering Beijing.
In 2020, China's national security law for Hong Kong, meant to quell the protests, loomed. In response, Apple Daily launched a campaign encouraging readers to petition U.S. President Donald Trump, during his first term, to “save Hong Kong.”
During his trial, Lai’s Apple Daily executives said he had influenced the newspaper’s coverage, with one saying objections to the petition campaign were brushed aside. Prosecutors accused him of asking staff not to target Trump, and Lai later testified he hoped the American president could help stop the national security law.
After the law took effect in June 2020, Lai told The Associated Press that “Hong Kong is dead.”
More than a month later, Lai was arrested under the law as police raided Apple Daily's building. The operation sent shockwaves through the local press scene. In 2021, arrests of the newspaper’s top executives and freezing of some of its assets forced the publication to cease operation.
Since December 2020, Lai has been in custody, during which he was sentenced to five years and nine months for fraud allegations in a case unrelated to the security law.
During his current trial, prosecutors alleged he had conspired with others to collude with foreign forces and publish seditious materials, saying he had clearly betrayed national interests. They pointed to Lai's articles, text messages, social posts and livestream shows. Lai admitted he had advocated for foreign sanctions against China earlier, but stopped once the law kicked in. He argued in court that he wrote without seditious intent.
“For truth prevails in God’s kingdom, and that’s good enough for me,” he said.
The court rejected these arguments, writing in an 855-page verdict that Lai's campaign against the People's Republic of China carried on for much of his adult life and continued “in a less explicit way” after the law's passage.
“There is no doubt that (Lai) had harbored his resentment and hatred of the PRC for many of his adult years,” Juder Esther Toh said, reading from the verdict.
The food lover, who is nicknamed “Fatty Lai,” has shrunk in size while in prison. His lawyer in August said he had experienced heart palpitations, though the government said a medical examination found no abnormalities.
Lai, a Roman Catholic, drew multiple crucifixions behind bars, and his friend Robert Sirico, a U.S.-based priest, received one of the pictures.
Beijing has called Lai “an agent and pawn of the anti-China forces." But Sirico said Lai had told him he wanted China to be better and the priest visited mainland China after Lai encouraged him to.
“He had a great love of China,” Sirico said, pointing to Lai's art at home and the meals they shared.
In the AP interview in 2020, Lai appeared undaunted.
“If I have to go to prison, I don’t mind. I don’t care,” he said. “It won’t be something I can worry about, I’ll just relax and do what I have to do.”
FILE - A protester holds an umbrella up during a rally on a main road in the occupied areas outside government headquarters in Hong Kong's Admiralty, Oct. 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
FILE - Protesters march on the streets against an extradition bill in Hong Kong, June 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)
FILE - Media mogul Jimmy Lai, center, wearing a pair of goggles, appears outside the government headquarters to join a protest in Hong Kong, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)
FILE - Tiananmen Square is filled with thousands during a pro-democracy rally in Beijing, China, May 17, 1989. (AP Photo/Sadayuki Mikami, File)
FILE - Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, then owner of the Hong Kong and Taiwan newspaper Apple Daily, attends the Seminar on Tenth Anniversary of Hong Kong's Handover organized by the Democratic Party in Hong Kong, June 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
