Government report warns AI could increase risk of cyber-attacks

27 Oct 2023

A report carried out by the government has warned that advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) could increase the risk of cyber-attacks in the UK.

The government stated that the UK has a 'global responsibility' to understand and address the risks surrounding AI in order to realise all its benefits and opportunities for future generations.

Generative AI – the type that controls chatbots – is analysed in the government's report. It warned that generative AI 'could be used to assemble knowledge on physical attacks by non-state violent actors, including for chemical, biological and radiological weapons'.

The report also raised concerns over how AI could cause a surge in cyber-attacks, which would be 'faster-paced, more effective and large scale' in nature.

In a recent speech on the issue, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: 'AI will bring new knowledge, new opportunities for economic growth, new advances in human capability and the chance to solve problems that we once thought beyond us.

'We're building world-leading capability to understand and evaluate the safety of AI models within government.

'I can announce that we will establish the world's first AI Safety Institute right here in the UK. It will advance the world's knowledge of AI safety, and it will carefully examine, evaluate and test new types of AI so that we understand what each new model is capable of, exploring all the risks, from social harms like bias and misinformation, through to the most extreme risks of all.'