(by Massimiliano D'Elia) Today's market is data, billions of billions of information that make it possible to profile individuals, companies, nations and even illicit trafficking in things and why not also in human beings. The gold of our times is not the single data but the complex of data, precisely those that we ourselves provide during the day while using a smartphone, making a bank transfer or buying a "book" with a controversial title with the electronic card. The collection and analysis of all these data allows us to also know what we might like to keep “secret”. In England, MI5 (one of the oldest and most efficient spy agencies in the world) has long been implementing its software and hardware systems to compete on a par with the continuous evolution of the so-called "malicious" tools used by state and non-state adversaries.
The British Communications Headquarters - GCHQ - is among the intelligence agencies, in the sector of "signals", the most advanced in the world and yesterday published a document where it reveals that will use artificial intelligence during its operations.
For over 100 years, GCHQ has been spying on global communications on behalf of the British state, protecting the government's communications systems from foreign espionage. In the newly published report, the agency says it intends to use artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and analyze complex threats and to defend against national security challenges due to enemy attacks through the use of artificial intelligence.
The report, entitled "Pioneering a New National Security: The Ethics of AI" ("Pioneer of a new national security: the ethics of AI"), Includes a foreword by the director of the GCHQ, Jeremy Fleming. Fleming was a career officer of the Security Service (MI5) until he became head of GCHQ in 2017. In his introductory note he claims that "technology and data "are rooted in the structure of GCHQ and that AI has" the potential to transform the agency's future operations". The report acknowledges that GCHQ has long been using AI for functions such as information gathering and machine translation. But the ability of AI to differentiate patterns among billions of data in seconds offers potential that cannot be overlooked, says Fleming.
Security-related applications of AI are endless, the report said. They include measures against the exploitation of children online, for example by detecting the methods used by child sexual abusers to hide their identity across multiple online platforms. Another potentially revolutionary application would be the mapping of global drug or human trafficking networks, analyzing up-to-date financial transactions and money laundering activities around the world. According to the report, even the illegal activities that take place in the so-called "Dark web”Could be mapped and monitored by AI systems.
The report also states that the GCHQ will look for ways to promote AI research and development in the UK. His goal will be to build bridges with the industry by funding start-up initiatives in artificial intelligence, he says. Finally, GCHQ will seek to formulate a code of ethics of practice in artificial intelligence, which will include best practice guidelines and recruit diverse staff of engineers, computer scientists and data scientists. Future reports will address emerging technologies such as computational science and synthetic biology, among many others, concludes the GCHQ report.