And finally—complexity: AI-assisted hacks open the door to complex strategies beyond those that the human mind can devise. Sophisticated statistical analyzes of AI can reveal relationships between variables and thus exploit it, something the best strategists and experts may never realize. That sophistication could allow AI to deploy strategies that sabotage multiple levels of the target system. For example, an artificial intelligence designed to maximize a political party’s vote share could identify the exact combination of economic variables, campaign messages, and tweaks. about voting procedures that can make the difference between winning and losing an election, extending the revolution that mapping software has brought to election campaigning. every aspect of democracy. And that’s not even diving into the subtle tricks that AI might suggest to manipulate the stock market, the legal system, or public opinion.
Given the speed, scale, scope and complexity of computers, hacking will become an issue that we as a society can no longer manage.
I remember a scene from the movie destroyer, in which Kyle Reese describes to Sarah Connor the cyborg hunting her: “No bargaining. It cannot be reasoned with. It feels no pity, regret or fear. And it certainly will never stop…” We don’t settle literal meaning cyborg killer, but as AI becomes our nemesis in the world of social media hacking, we may find it difficult to keep up with its inhuman ability to hunt down our vulnerabilities.
Some AI researchers worry about the extent to which powerful AIs can overcome human-imposed limitations and—potentially—will dominate society. While this may sound like mythical speculation, it is at least a scenario worth considering and taking precautions.
However, today and in the near future, the hack described in this book will be carried out by those in power against the rest of us. All the AIs out there, whether on your laptop, online, or embodied in a robot, are programmed by someone else, often for their benefit, not yours. While an internet-connected device like Alexa can mimic your trusted friend, never forget that it’s designed to sell Amazon products. And just as Amazon’s website encourages you to buy their local brands instead of your competitors’ higher-quality goods, it doesn’t always work in your best interest. It will steal your trust in Amazon for the sake of shareholders.
In the absence of any meaningful regulation, there’s really nothing we can do to prevent AI hacking from taking place. We need to accept that it is inevitable and build strong management structures that can respond quickly and effectively by normalizing beneficial attacks on systems and disabling them. malicious or unintentional attacks.
This challenge raises deeper, harder questions than how AI will evolve or how organizations might respond to it: What attacks are considered beneficial? Which is harmful? And who decides? If you think that the government has to be small enough to drown in a bathtub, you probably think that hacks that reduce the government’s ability to control citizens are usually good. But you still might not want to replace tech lords with political lords. If you believe in the principle of prevention, you want as many experts to test and evaluate attacks as possible before they are integrated into our social systems. And you might want to apply that principle even more upstream, to the organizations and structures that make those hacks possible.
The questions continued. Should AI-generated hacks be managed locally or globally? By admin or by referendum? Or is there a way we can let the market or civil society groups decide? (Current efforts to apply governance models to algorithms are an early indication of how this will work.) The governance structure we designed will provide for some individuals. Individuals and organizations decide the attacks that will shape the future. We will need to make sure that power is used wisely.
taken from A Hacker’s Mind: How Strongly Bend Association Rules and How to Bend Them Back by Bruce Schneier. Copyright © 2023 by Bruce Schneier. Used with permission of the publisher, WW Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
