In Dossier No. 44, made possible by a grant from the Augustus Foundation, Emanuel Pietrobon details how advancements in AI will enable the fine-tuning of chatbots and deepfakes, but also the militarization of intelligent virtual assistants.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

  • Artificial intelligence is set to deeply reshape everyday life, social relations, the world of labor and wars. The impact of artificial intelligence on wars will affect both the military technology used in conventional conflicts and the weaponry of hybrid wars.
  • The refinement of tools that are currently in their inception stages, such as deepfakes and chatbots, will dramatically increase the destabilizing charge of information and cognitive wars, jeopardizing the mental lucidity of both individuals and communities, social stability, and electoral processes in countries with fewer defenses.
  • Deepfakes are audio, photo and video creations made with artificial intelligence that are characterized by high accuracy. They are already powerful vectors of disinformation today, and tomorrow the technological advancement may render them fact-checking-proof.
  • Intelligent virtual assistants could become weapons capable of performing sabotage, cognitive operations, and surveillance against users. In the near future, the commercialization of seemingly harmless programs designed to convey narratives, propagate misinformation, and assault users' minds will increase.
  • The metaverse is a reality that requires a long-term vision that is able to combine profit and national security, because it will be the coming theater of espionage, cognitive operations, and radicalization campaigns.
  • The national plan to prevent and counter the new threats from artificial intelligence should include investment in training new professionals, ad hoc legislation against advanced disinformation and cognitive operations, and a political debate on the creation of an Italian metaverse.

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Dossier 44 - Il ruolo dell'IA nelle guerre ibride
emanuel pietrobon
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Geopolitical analyst, foreign policy consultant and author. Graduate in Area and global studies for international cooperation (University of Turin), educated between Italy, Poland, Portugal and Russia. Specialized in hybrid warfare, Latin American issues and post-Soviet space.