The United Nations is warning that terrorists could hijack cars or drones driven by artificial intelligence to conduct attacks in crowded spaces, resulting in mass casualties.
A report released last month by the U.N. Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute and the U.N. Counter-Terrorism Centre revealed that terrorists this century have utilized emerging technologies such as drones, virtual currencies, and social media. With AI increasingly becoming more accessible, the report said, "it is imperative to stay ahead of the curve and be prepared for any eventuality involving its misuse."
The report detailed a 2016 video prepared by the Islamic State group in Syria showing it experimenting with a rudimentary version of a self-driving car that was remote-controlled. The car had mannequins placed inside to make observers think a person was driving. It is believed the group also had plans to attempt to replicate the heat signature of a human being to further fool security systems into believing that someone was inside.
The report then stated there was evidence that ISIS was working to develop self-driving cars to use in place of suicide bombers, and in 2018, British prosecutors revealed that two ISIS supporters were planning to involve the use of a driverless car in perpetration of terrorist attacks.
"Reflecting on the extensive history of terrorism and vehicles, increased autonomy in cars could very well be an amenable development for terrorist groups, allowing them to effectively carry out one of their most traditional types of attacks remotely, without the need for a follower to sacrifice his or her life or risk being apprehended," the report stated.
The report clarified that autonomous vehicles could be airborne, such as drones, or subsurface vehicles, such as submarines.
"From a technical perspective, it is arguable that the development of autonomous drones, or even submersibles, may be even more attainable in the near future than driverless cars, considering the reduced number of variables that drone programmers need to accommodate and the more simplified legal frameworks applicable to drones," the reported stated.
The report cited a 2018 video titled "Slaughterbots" released by the Future of Life Institute, a U.S.-based nonprofit research institute, in which a swarm of micro drones loaded with several grams of explosives used facial recognition to identify and attack their targets kamikaze-style.
"Facial recognition technology enabled the controller to program the drone to autonomously acquire, identify, and engage a selected target by cross-referencing images collected by the drone with images uploaded into an embedded facial recognition database," the report stated. "Fortunately, this technology does not exist in an ‘off-the-shelf’ format, although it is not an entirely novel notion nor is mere science fiction."
The report stated that even though the use of AI for terrorism is low, "it is important to not underestimate their intention to avail of the latest technological trends, as well as their increasing capabilities to do so."
The report recommended that states and organizations develop clear policies and practical guidelines on how to respond to Al-enabled attacks, including regulation and certification processes to ensure Al systems are secured against adversaries.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.