UK spies will need artificial intelligence - Rusi report

UK spies will need to use artificial intelligence (AI) to counter a range of threats, an intelligence report says.

Adversaries are likely to use the technology for attacks in cyberspace and on the political system, and AI will be needed to detect and stop them.

But AI is unlikely to predict who might be about to be involved in serious crimes, such as terrorism - and will not replace human judgement, it says.

The report is based on unprecedented access to British intelligence.

The Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) think tank also argues that the use of AI could give rise to new privacy and human-rights considerations, which will require new guidance.

The UK's adversaries "will undoubtedly seek to use AI to attack the UK", Rusi says in the report - and this may include not just states, but also criminals.

Fire with fire
The future threats could include using AI to develop deep fakes - where a computer can learn to generate convincing faked video of a real person - in order to manipulate public opinion and elections.

It might also be used to mutate malware for cyber-attacks, making it harder for normal systems to detect - or even to repurpose and control drones to carry out attacks.

In these cases, AI will be needed to counter AI, the report argues.

"Adoption of AI is not just important to help intelligence agencies manage the technical challenge of information overload. It is highly likely that malicious actors will use AI to attack the UK in numerous ways, and the intelligence community will need to develop new AI-based defence measures," argues Alexander Babuta, one of the authors.

The independent report was commissioned by the UK's GCHQ security service, and had access to much of the country's intelligence community.

All three of the UK's intelligence agencies have made the use of technology and data a priority for the future - and the new head of MI5, Ken McCallum, who takes over this week, has said one of his priorities will be to make greater use of technology, including machine learning.

However, the authors believe that AI will be of only "limited value" in "predictive intelligence" in fields such as counter-terrorism.