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The scary future of AI-based security threats already appears to be within the present, as Google has revealed a dystopian warning after its own company computers were hacked using the controversial tech.
Artificial intelligence has been the primary focus of the tech world for several years now, with leading figures outlining all of the ways it will supposedly improve everyone's lives and drive innovation across the globe.
Specific advancements in health and medical research have been highlighted, alongside propositions that would allow people to live without the need for work. Alongside this exist a number of more present threats that are already causing chaos for major companies.
While many workers have already had to grapple with redundancy thanks to AI, a company as large as Google has outlined the cybersecurity risks that current models pose — and it's likely to only get worse as time goes on.
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As reported by Fortune, Google has indicated that its company computers have already been attacked by AI-driven exploits, with models used by cybercriminals capable of identifying cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the system.
John Hultquist, Google's chief threat intelligence analyst, has issued a particularly dystopian warning, echoing the fears of some other key figures within the industry about the threat that AI currently poses.
"It's here. The era of AI-driven vulnerability and exploitation is already here," Hultquist said, sharing limited information about the attack that was recently orchestrated against his employer.
As mentioned, he's far from the only individual to warn about impending cybersecurity threats, as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently predicted that a world-shaking cyberattack would take place this year thanks to AI.
In the eyes of Altman, this would be built upon the growing availability of advanced open source AI software, specifically models designed to protect against cybersecurity threats.
While that might seem counterintuitive, these models actually serve as the perfect means to bypass protections, as they are altered to defeat their very own design — and that could also be extended to biowarfare threats when medical AI becomes open source too.
Taking this even further, Google has previously outlined the risks that development of quantum computers causes for the broader security of the internet and digital systems, as the futuristic tech would theoretically be able to bypass all forms of encryption with ease, which could be catastrophic.
In response, leading figures have called for increased regulation on the development and use of AI tools, as while this might not stop criminals right now, it could prevent even more dangerous attacks in the future.
