UK cyber spies to use AI in the fight against fake news spread by Russian ‘troll farms’
GCHQ will tackle Russian fake news bots by using artificial intelligence (AI) to find “troll farms”, it has been announced.
Britain’s cyber spy agency has outlined how it protects the country against state-backed disinformation campaigns and other cyberattacks using AI. It is targeting so-called troll farms, organisations making deliberately offensive or provocative posts through fake automatic online accounts called bots, to cause conflict or manipulate public opinion.
Organisations such as Russia’s Internet Research Agency, the St Petersburg troll farm indicted in the US for meddling in the 2016 presidential election, will come under increased scrutiny.
In a paper released today titled Ethics of AI: Pioneering a New National Security, GCHQ has explained how it counters malign foreign cyberattacks, while adhering to an “ethical framework for using AI in operations”.
Jeremy Fleming, the GCHQ director, said: “[AI] allows our brilliant analysts to manage vast volumes of complex data and improves decision-making in the face of increasingly complex threats – from protecting children to improving cybersecurity. While this unprecedented technological evolution comes with great opportunity, it also poses significant ethical challenges for all of society, including GCHQ.” The paper describes how hostile states can use AI to mount disinformation attacks by automating the production of fake news and other content to undermine public debate. This could include the production of “deepfake” videos with fictional but very convincing content. False audio material can also be produced.
“A growing number of states are using Ai-enabled tools and techniques to pursue political ends by spreading disinformation to shape public perceptions and undermine trust,” the paper states. GCHQ says it uses AI to tackle this threat by fact checking information with trusted sources, detecting when images and videos have been altered, and blocking botnets.