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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
Now, the government's National Risk Assessment has warned that terrorist groups are using AI to create targeted propaganda to radicalise children. These groups are apparently using gaming platforms to influence and exploit children by spreading propaganda, recruit members and encouraging radical activities.
Joining me to discuss this is Aisling Maloney, who is political reporter with the Irish Independent and has the story today. Aisling, good morning to you. Good morning, Clare. So what are we being told from this National Risk Assessment Group, which has put this report together for the government?
Yeah, so this is particularly looking at money laundering and terrorist financing.
Chapter 2: What does the National Risk Assessment say about AI and radicalisation?
So money laundering, obviously an issue around organised crime and how organised criminals get their money and terrorist financing, obviously one of the counter-terrorism ways that they, I suppose, weed out terrorist groups and stop them from forming and break them up. is to essentially stop their finances and stop how they're getting their money.
So the National Risk Assessment has looked at these areas again. It's the first update to the risk assessments since 2019, so seven years. And obviously, we've come a long way in that time, particularly around artificial intelligence, which is even only really a new thing in the last year or two. And of course, legislators are struggling to keep up with
the advancements in technology, the problems, I suppose, it's throwing up for governments, particularly around bad actors, criminals, using these new technologies to reach their ultimate aim. So the National Risk Assessment is warning that terrorist groups, terrorist organisations are actually using artificial intelligence to create more targeted and tailored propaganda to radicalise children.
Chapter 3: How are terrorist groups using gaming platforms for recruitment?
And it also flagged concerns, as you mentioned, about the increasing use of gaming platforms These are online gaming platforms to recruit both minors and adults and to influence them, to exploit those platforms, to disseminate propaganda, recruit members, incite and engage those using them in radicalisation activities, to communicate with people and sometimes to even fundraise.
So these gaming, online gaming platforms, people might wonder what these are. Now, none are actually named in the report. As far as I can see, it's a 300 page report. I can't find where they are maybe called out specifically, but generally they're talking about the ones that operate online. You might have ones like Fortnite.
That's a gaming platform where people can go on and I suppose innocently play the actual game, but they can also interact with people worldwide, essentially through the internet. And you don't know often who those people are. And many parents might be aware of some of those online gaming platforms, maybe that their children even use.
And I know it's often a conversation between parents and I suppose in the wider narrative as well about how do you control who they're speaking to. And this is obviously one of the areas that would be the worst case scenario where they might interact with someone from a terrorist group who is trying to essentially influence them and recruit them ultimately.
It can be really complicated and difficult, I would imagine, to try and infiltrate these chats. Because even if you're playing on those platforms that you've mentioned, you mightn't be using the chat function on them. So you could be using something like Discord, which I know is really popular, as a side chat happening with those that you're playing against.
So did they make mention in this report that it's going to be difficult to try and find out exactly what is going on on these platforms?
Absolutely. And particularly that what you're mentioning there is that it's becoming increasingly difficult with the terrorist groups to detect what they're doing because they're using these alternative, this is what the report says, alternative internet platforms and encrypted chat applications.
And you mentioned there like maybe using one application to reach people in one way and then in tandem using another separate platform to have a chat function, which is encrypted as well. And these platforms are like widely available. Anybody can go on and use them.
They require little to no financial backing, which then makes it easier for the terrorists to evade any detection because counterterrorism investigations often focus on that financial monitoring and finding ways where they're getting their cash essentially to keep going.
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