ISIS and al-Qaeda terrorists use AI to spread extremist propaganda

The Rise of Extremists Using AI

Over the past year, observers from a variety of extremist monitoring organizations have reported on how IS and other extremist groups are encouraging followers to use new digital tools.

In February, an al-Qaeda-linked group announced it would begin hosting online AI workshops. It later released a guide on how to use an AI chatbot.

In March, after an IS affiliate carried out a terrorist attack at a Moscow theater that killed more than 135 people, one of the group's followers created a fake news story about the event and posted it four days after the attack.

Earlier this month, officers from Spain's Interior Ministry arrested nine young men for sharing propaganda material praising the IS group, with one described as focusing on "extremist multimedia content using specialized editing applications powered by artificial intelligence."

“Both al-Qaeda and IS are using AI as a supplement to official propaganda,” said Moustafa Ayad, executive director for Africa, Middle East and Asia at the London-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), which studies extremism in all its forms.

He added that the way these propaganda pieces are displayed may not be detected by content moderators on popular social media platforms.

Extremist groups are increasingly exploiting emerging technologies for malicious purposes. Photo: Tim Goode

Extremists are among the early adopters of AI technology.

When the extremist group ISIS first emerged around 2014, they made propaganda videos with fairly high production values ​​to intimidate enemies and recruit followers to become members of the group.

“Terrorist groups and their supporters continue to be early adopters of technology to serve their interests,” Ayad noted.

Watchdog groups have outlined a variety of ways extremist groups use AI. Aside from propaganda, they can also use chatbots from large language models, like ChatGPT, to chat with potential recruits.

There are also concerns that extremists could use AI tools to carry out digital or cyber attacks or help them plan real-life terrorist attacks.

“I don’t know at this stage whether the use of AI by foreign terrorist organizations and their supporters is more dangerous than propaganda campaigns involving indiscriminate killing of civilians and attacks on security forces,” said ISD’s Ayad.

“Right now, the bigger threat is that these groups are actually conducting attacks, spreading propaganda, or recruiting new members in a geopolitical context, specifically the war in Gaza,” he continued. “They are using civilian deaths and Israeli actions as a tool to recruit and build campaigns.”

Ngoc Anh (according to DW)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/khung-bo-is-va-al-qaeda-su-dung-ai-de-tuyen-truyen-chu-nghia-cuc-doan-post303035.html