Regulate artificial intelligence to avert cyber arms race

Abstract

yberattacks are becoming more frequent, sophisticated and destructive. Each day in 2017, the United States suffered, on average, more than 4,000 ransomware attacks, which encrypt computer files until the owner pays to release them 1. In 2015, the daily average was just 1,000. In May last year, when the Wan-naCry virus crippled hundreds of IT systems across the UK National Health Service, more Regulate artificial intelligence to avert cyber arms race Define an international doctrine for cyberspace skirmishes before they escalate into conventional warfare, urge Mariarosaria Taddeo and Luciano Floridi. Object detection and tracking technology on show at the 2018 Artificial Intelligence Exhibition & Conference in Tokyo.

How AI can be a force for good

“…AI applications are becoming pervasive. Users rely on them to deal with a variety of tasks, from delivering goods to ensuring national defense (5). Assigning these tasks to AI brings huge benefits to societies (see the photo).…”

“…It lowers costs, reduces risks, increases consistency and reliability, and enables new solutions to complex problems. For example, AI applications can lower diagnostic errors by 85% in breast cancer patients (6), and AI cybersecurity systems can reduce the average time to identify and neutralize cyberattacks from 101 days to a few hours (5).…”

Artificial Intelligence Crime: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Foreseeable Threats and Solutions

“…The AIC literature reveals that, within the cybersecurity sphere, AI is taking on a malevolent and offensive role-in tandem with defensive AI systems being developed and deployed to enhance their resilience (in enduring attacks) and robustness (in averting attacks), and to counter threats as they emerge (Yang et al 2018;Taddeo and Floridi 2018a). The 2016 DARPA Cyber Grand Challenge was a tipping point for demonstrating the effectiveness of a combined offensive-defensive AI approach, with seven AI systems shown to be capable of identifying and patching their own vulnerabilities, while also probing and exploiting those of competing systems.…”

Deterrence and Norms to Foster Stability in Cyberspace

“…As the latter becomes increasingly autonomous and smart, leveraging the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) (Yang et al 2018), so do cyber attacks and defense strategies. Both the public and private sectors are already testing AI systems in autonomous war games (Taddeo and Floridi 2018). The 2016 DARPA Cyber Grand Challenge was a landmark in this respect.…”

“…This is true especially when considering how the rising distribution and automation, multiple interactions, and fastpace performance of cyber attacks make control progressively less effective, while increasing the risks for unforeseen consequences, proportionality breaches, and escalation of responses. An international regime of norms regulating state behaviour in cyberspace is necessary to complement cyber deterrence strategies and foster stability (Taddeo and Floridi 2018). This is why the 2017 failure of the UN Governmental Group of Experts on BDevelopments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security^(GGE) 5 to provide recommendations on State conduct in cyberspace is problematic (Taddeo 2017a).…”