back to article MI6, CIA using generative AI to combat tech-driven enemies

CIA director Bill Burns and UK Secret Intelligence Service (SIS aka MI6) chief Richard Moore have for the first time penned a joint opinion piece in which the two spookmasters reveal their agencies have adopted generative AI. "We are now using AI, including generative AI, to enable and improve intelligence activities – from …

  1. Khaptain Silver badge

    "The Ukraine war has highlighted how technology, when deployed alongside traditional weaponry, "can alter the course of war," according to Moore and Burns."

    I often wonder if those at the top of the Military ladder think of war as a king of oxbridge exercise in strategy as opposed to the endless theatre of misery that it must be for those at the bottom?

    1. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

      When have they ever cared ?

      The US top brass today is as yellow as ever, they could support and pressure policy makers to allow Ukraine to use western weapons on Russian soil so they could reduce Russia's ability to attack and kill civilian targets in Ukraine, but they ...

      you know the rest....

      1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

        The US top brass today is as yellow as ever, they could support and pressure policy makers to allow Ukraine to use western weapons on Russian soil so they could reduce Russia's ability to attack and kill civilian targets in Ukraine, but they ...

        .. don't want to be glassed?

        But Ukraine's also been attacking and killing civilians, both in Russia and former Ukrainian territory. The weapons Russia has been using are stuff like Iskanders, with a 500km range, or air-launched missiles and glide bombs. It's been using the venerable Tu-95 Bears to do this, along with other aircraft that have already been moved outside of the range of our typical long-range missiles. So providing longer range missiles to Ukraine won't do anything to reduce Russia's capability.

        Then there are minor details like the way Russia has been able to jam or spoof GPS, rendering existing weapons less effective. So perhaps they could use INS, but then who would be programming the strike packages? Would we do that so Ukraine could strike Red Square? Would we want Ukraine doing the programming so they could strike Red Square? Or would we give Ukraine another $200m+ in missiles so they could finally take down the Kerch Bridge? Or another section. But it only took a few months for Russia to repair the bridge after Ukraine's suicide bomb attack. And of course now there's a land bridge, Russia hasn't been using the Kerch Bridge for much military traffic anyway.

        1. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

          JE: But Ukraine's also been attacking and killing civilians, both in Russia and former Ukrainian territory.

          cow: Theres a big difference between what Ukraine and Russia, just like theres a big difference between someone giving you $1 or $99 dollars when they owe you change from $100 after buying a chewing gum.

          JE: But Ukraine's also been attacking and killing civilians, both in Russia and former Ukrainian territory. The weapons Russia has been using are stuff like Iskanders, with a 500km range, or air-launched missiles and glide bombs. It's been using the venerable Tu-95 Bears to do this, along with other aircraft that have already been moved outside of the range of our typical long-range missiles. So providing longer range missiles to Ukraine won't do anything to reduce Russia's capability.

          Cow: If Ukraine had longer range missiles they could take out enough airfields so that Russia woul dbe sending a lot less glide bombs into kindergardents.

          We have already seen how much HIMARS and other western systems have helped Ukraine, the better Russia is defeated the safer the world is.

          JE: Then there are minor details like the way Russia has been able to jam or spoof GPS, rendering existing weapons less effective.

          cow: Bullshit theres no way for Russia to jam GPS for thousands of kms along the border. If there was then those systems could easily be taken out by western missiles and then everythong becomes open to destruction.

          Secondly there are many ways to guide missiles besides GPS including gyros and more. Missiles have been locked onto USSR far years before GPS was a thing.

          JE: So perhaps they could use INS, but then who would be programming the strike packages?

          COW: Minor details. Who fucking cares, just get the job done.

          JE: Would we do that so Ukraine could strike Red Square?

          COW: Both.

          The world would be a significantly better place the sooner Putin is gone and the Russian people are free.

          JE:

          Would we want Ukraine doing the programming so they could strike Red Square? Or would we give Ukraine another $200m+ in missiles so they could finally take down the Kerch Bridge?

          COW:

          Not sure what the problem is, unless you are yellow ?

          JE: And of course now there's a land bridge, Russia hasn't been using the Kerch Bridge for much military traffic anyway.

          cow: So what if they havent, its. amessage to the Russian people to stop being sheep.

          1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

            cow: Theres a big difference between what Ukraine and Russia, just like theres a big difference between someone giving you $1 or $99 dollars when they owe you change from $100 after buying a chewing gum.

            Erm.. I know cows and morons both chew their cud, but not sure what your point is. Is it the way the West stole Russia's $200bn+ in foreign reserves, and France is now using the interest from that to send more weapons to Ukraine?

            Cow: If Ukraine had longer range missiles they could take out enough airfields so that Russia woul dbe sending a lot less glide bombs into kindergardents.

            We have already seen how much HIMARS and other western systems have helped Ukraine, the better Russia is defeated the safer the world is.

            AGM-158 JASSM or ER version has a range of 400 or 1,000km. The aircraft Russia is using to drop glide bombs have a much longer range. Russia has a lot of airfields out of the range of the AGM-158 and Ukraine doesn't have many aircraft that can launch those. Russia also has their other missiles that it has been using to strike targets like the Poltava miltary academy. Ukraine's response to that was to attack a market in Donetsk. But then Ukraine has been killing civilians in Donetsk since 2014. But Ukraine has been whining it wants missiles that can strike Moscow & St Petersberg. Why would it want to do that?

            Plus it already can-

            https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn7l375z720o

            Russian officials say they shot down 144 Ukrainian drones around the country overnight in a wave of attacks that have killed one woman, set residential buildings on fire and grounded flights in Moscow.

            So no doubt Russia will respond by striking more of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and winter is coming. Also not sure why you think a 'defeated' Russia would make the world safer. Do you think regime change would do that? Who would replace Putin? If Russia collapsed into it's own civil war, who would end up in control of its strategic missile forces and thousands of nuclear warheads?

            cow: Bullshit theres no way for Russia to jam GPS for thousands of kms along the border. If there was then those systems could easily be taken out by western missiles and then everythong becomes open to destruction.

            It doesn't need to. It only needs to protect strategic locations, which it has been doing. Early in the conflict there were lots of videos of tanks and artillery being destroyed by precision guided munitions, now, there aren't. So either Russia's developed ways to counter those munitions, or Ukraine has run out.

            The world would be a significantly better place the sooner Putin is gone and the Russian people are free.

            The Russian people are free. They arguably have more freedom than Ukrainians.

            cow: So what if they havent, its. amessage to the Russian people to stop being sheep.

            But I thought the West loves sheep? Hence all the authoritarian measures it is taking to crack down on dissent, lock up protestors, restrict free speech etc? Strange thing about Russia though is every time Ukraine pulls a PR stunt like suicide bombing the Kerch Bridge, or invading Kursk.. Putin's approval rating goes up, more Russians volunteer and there are more demands for Russia to escalate and finish Ukraine.. Which it's in the process of doing. Ukraine's captured some potato fields in Kursk and the forces it diverted there are being steadily eliminated. Meanwhile in the East, Russia's been advancing on key logistics locations and has almost broken through Ukraine's defence belt there.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              "But then Ukraine has been killing civilians in Donetsk since 2014"

              OK, thought experiment. The situation in eastern Ukraine from 2014 to 2022 was monitored by the OSCE. This organisation consisted of delegations from various countries including Russia, and the reports it produced were signed off by *all* member parties before being issued (i.e including Russia).

              The reports issued state that 14,000 people had been killed in eastern Ukraine, split across the Ukranian military, Russian military (albeit unmarked*), sepparatists, and civilians. According to the reports issued, the majority of deaths were military personnel, and the majority of civillian deaths were due to mines. Of those civillian deaths caused by direct action (small arms or artillery), the majority were due to fire from Russian troops, with a minority due to fire from Ukranian troops.

              If the above is untrue, then why did the Russian delegation to OSCE agree that it was correct and that is should be published?

              * yes, Putin has stated this was the case after initially denying it

              1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

                If the above is untrue, then why did the Russian delegation to OSCE agree that it was correct and that is should be published?

                citation needed

                One aspect to the conflict is once it started, the OSCE's monitoring campaign stopped, and the reports it provided seemed to have been buried or memory holed. The last time I looked, I couldn't find them. But my memory is different to yours and ISTR frequent shelling of civilians by Ukraine, including sending PFM-1 'petal' mines into Donetsk.

            2. Casca Silver badge

              "But then Ukraine has been killing civilians in Donetsk since 2014". They have been fighting russian soldiers and there paid terrorists.

              You are nothing but a russian shill and boot licker

            3. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

              Whose side are you on ?

        2. Casca Silver badge

          LMAO, russians has been killing Ukranians and russians is correct yes. russian soldiers where in eastern ukraine 2014.

          Just fuck off with your lies

    2. elsergiovolador Silver badge

      Armchair generals very much like real armchair generals.

      1. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

        Many US generals agree with my statements. You can find their speeches all over the internets.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @Khaptain - Well, well

      The course of the war is the good one, in case you don't know it.

      55b USD in profit for weapons manufacturers, more than 22b USD in Ukrainian minerals, oil and gas already sold to US & UK just waiting to be scoped, more than 200b USD of Russian assets stolen, the perspective of finally destroying Russia for good (with a perspective of more mineral resources coming US way) without risking the life of one single US soldier, what's not to like and how would you change it if you had the possibility ?

      And you're complaining here about the misery of the poor. Just let them eat cake, OK ?

      1. elsergiovolador Silver badge

        Re: @Khaptain - Well, well

        Did you get access to Starlink, comrade? Watch out for drones...

      2. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

        Re: @Khaptain - Well, well

        Nonsense, America is doing what they did in WW1 and WW2, they let the real heroes in this case the Ukrainian people, do the fighting and then come in at the end.

    4. PB90210 Bronze badge

      "Moore and Burns"

      Anyone else read that as "Monty Burns"?

    5. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      >top of the Military ladder think of war as a king of oxbridge exercise in strategy

      Gen. Omar Bradley: "Amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics"—

      Hopefully the best at the top of the military ladder think about moving packages on time and delivering parcels to the recipients

      Which means the likely most successful world domination super-villain would be Jeff Bezos....

  2. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

    And there it is .... the Enigmatic Manic Problem not solved feeding an expanding vulnerability

    MI6 and CIA using generative AI to combat tech-driven threat actors

    That’s all very novel and informative, and even encouraging, but whenever reactive do tech-driven threat actors always lead counter-intelligence operations/spooky remote actions at a distance. And that is not a question.

    Might I suggest alternative innovative red team partnerships with leadership more than just able to alter the courses that lead to wars ..... for that is surely exactly what is future needed and so evidently presently AWOL/MIA in those businesses whose survival depend upon them having an enemy to confront and try to defeat in with combat.

    1. EH

      Re: And there it is .... the Enigmatic Manic Problem not solved feeding an expanding vulnerability

      @ the down voters - don't downvote our wonderful amanfrommars(1) - it's been active in our forum longer than chatgpt

  3. O'Reg Inalsin

    You mean like Alan Turing Et. Al. at Bletchley Park? While he wasn't at the top of the Military ladder, he was appreciated by those at the top.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Secret generative AI cloud technologies

    D'oh!

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Brazil

    The place where Mr Buttle meets Senor de Menezes.

  6. cantankerous swineherd

    nice to hear from the d notice committee every now and again

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Isn't there a permanent SuperInjunction against that sort thing?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        We can't tell you

        ps. we know who you are Anonymous Coward

    2. Roj Blake Silver badge

      The first rule of D Notice Club is "you do not talk about D Notice Club."

    3. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      D Notices in the UK are voluntary. And always have been.

      It’s a request by the government not to publish something, and reasons have to be given - or the journos will break it. As has happened before.

      1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

        But then the journo will lose their cabinet post and have to rely on their income as a columnist

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The Kremlin's "reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe"

    It's doing wonders here in France where, just this past week, after the French had voted the Left-wing in (Left-180, Center-153, Far-Right-143), the President decided to name a Right-wing Prime Minister, in alliance with the Kremlin-backed Far-Right.

    Putin's PSYOPs are sinking us en masse, cheaply!

    1. elsergiovolador Silver badge

      Re: The Kremlin's "reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe"

      Naive Western rulers get played like villagers falling for cheap carnival tricks.

      Main mistake is thinking that Russians think the same way as people in the west and that they share the same moral compass.

      1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

        Re: The Kremlin's "reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe"

        Naive Western rulers get played like villagers falling for cheap carnival tricks.

        Bread and circuses have worked for centuries. Well, until the bread runs out. Or the circus is a flop. See Paris and the Olympics for more info.

        Main mistake is thinking that Russians think the same way as people in the west and that they share the same moral compass.

        What makes you think they don't?

        Basic human needs are the same the world over. Food, shelter, clothing, entertaiment. Of course all of those have been getting either scarcer or more expensive thanks to a few individuals creating policies that have lead to inflation, higher rents, reduced standard & quality of living. Well, for the majority. The minority making those decisions still live in comparative luxury. The UK has just had a change of (mis)management and their solution to the problem is to increase energy costs and possibly implement more sin taxes. Sorry, they can eat in subsidised dining rooms, but your cake is going to get more expensive. They can eat cake, you won't be able to. It is for your own good.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: The Kremlin's "reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe"

          > Or the circus is a flop. See Paris and the Olympics for more info.

          Not sure about Paris, but I do remember that one time an Olympics "flopped" so badly that the host nation had to invade another country just days later to keep their population distracted!

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: The Kremlin's "reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe"

            That's neofeudalism at its best IMHO, czarist in this case, with Putin (most recently) killing his own cook, a butcher as it were, much like himself! The supremely hereditary Kim Jong Un couldn't be prouder.

          2. Jellied Eel Silver badge

            Re: The Kremlin's "reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe"

            Not sure about Paris, but I do remember that one time an Olympics "flopped" so badly that the host nation had to invade another country just days later to keep their population distracted!

            Yep. Ukraine's invasion of Russia certainly gave the media something else to get excited about.

            1. Casca Silver badge

              Re: The Kremlin's "reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe"

              Keep the posts coming comrade.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: The Kremlin's "reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe"

              Which year was it when Ukraine hosted the Olympics then invaded Russia four days later? I'm having trouble remembering that one.

              Oh, hang on, I remember now.... it was in nineteen-oh-that-was-poor-even-by-Jellied-Eel's-usual-standards!

              1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

                Re: The Kremlin's "reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe"

                My bad.. The French Olympics ended 11th August, Ukraine invaded Russia on 6th August 2024. I don't think Ukraine will be winning any gold medals for that one though.

        2. MachDiamond Silver badge

          Re: The Kremlin's "reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe"

          "Of course all of those have been getting either scarcer or more expensive thanks to a few individuals creating policies that have lead to inflation, higher rents, reduced standard & quality of living. "

          The whole thing needs a re-think. People seem to be taught that owning a home isn't a good goal. Think of how hard it would be to move if you also had to sell said home. There's taxes, maintenance and insurance you'd have to pay. Food is so expensive too. Not that anybody eats much at home anymore and when they do, it's a ready-meal. The sort of entertainment is also being dictated. There must be a giant flat screen TV in each room and subscriptions to multiple content sources.

          I own my home outright and the day I made the last payment was orgasmic. I've been cooking at home from scratch for years and even can/preserve/freeze so I can be as lazy as the next person and just nuke a meal when I want. I expect that in a bit more than a week, I'll have won several boxes full of SF paperbacks from an estate since nobody seems all that interested in them thus far. Energy I'm working on. I need to splash out on a small welder so I can build a bracket to hold some solar panels that will power my new chest freezer. The old one which was bigger had lived in the garage and ran on solar, but the new one lives in the utility room so I need to move the panels. Heating is solar and I didn't get to putting the evaporative cooler on solar this year as the roof needs to be done first. Knocking out the big power requirements is lowering my cost of energy.

          Happiness isn't living on avocado toast, basking in the glow of continuous big screen TV's and long foreign holidays. Adequate food, secure shelter, some books and a warm place to shit can be enough. Should I want more, there's the whole outdoors to discover. I'll wait until the temps get down to tolerable. It's been a really hot summer.

          1. Michael Strorm Silver badge

            Faux-wholesome nonsense, but the "avocado toast" gives it away...

            > People seem to be taught that owning a home isn't a good goal. Think of how hard it would be to move if you also had to sell said home. There's taxes, maintenance and insurance you'd have to pay.

            Really? That's the impression you get of why young (and not-all-that-young-anymore) people aren't buying houses? Because that's not what I hear, which is generally people who quite clearly *would* like to afford a house but don't stand a chance of getting their foot on the ladder or being able to afford it if they did.

            And I'm sure it's nothing to do with the fact that house prices have gone up obscenely in real terms- way above the rate of inflation- in recent decades and continue to do so and mortgages for such properties aren't affordable to many people even on a decent wage.

            > People seem to be taught have come to the conclusion that owning a home isn't a good is an impossible goal and given up on it.

            FTFY.

            But then again, you mention the perennial "avocado toast"- something which not only became a cliché of blaming millennials' alleged profligacy for their inability to afford a house, but became *such* a cliché that it's generally used to *mock* such attitudes now. And yet the context of the rest of your post suggests it wasn't meant to be satirical.

            Beyond the direct problem of affordability, the thing that pisses me off about the disproportionately high price of houses- something I've been saying for *many* years now- is how housing then distorts and becomes such a huge factor in peoples' lives, with everything having to revolve around that.

            You can afford a house by paring down everything else in your life and caring about nothing else? And that's a good thing?

            It's. A. House. It's a thing to live in, not your entire life. At least, it shouldn't be, and it wouldn't be in a less f****d-up society.

            And that in turn ties new house owners to an economy in which house prices have become an unhealthy part, in which house prices going up is seen to be a good thing, and where those people who just bought an overpriced house then *can't* afford for it to lose value, even though house prices going down from their current inflated *should* otherwise- within reason- be a good thing.

            I predicted correctly before the 2008 crash that while those over-inflated prices going down *would* be a good thing on paper, in reality it wouldn't be for *healthy* reasons or have a *healthy* effect. And it didn't. And after the so-called "recovery" from that crash house prices went back up and are now much worse than they were even in 2006-07.

            So, tl;dr version, the shitty, overpriced housing market has a shitty, f****d-up, distorting effect on peoples' lives, society and the economy as a whole.

            In isolation, I wouldn't entirely disagree with everything you said, including the bit about flat-screen TVs and streaming services. But in this context, they just come across as part of the faux-wholesome back-to-basics-happy-life facade over something that's pretty much just victim blaming "avocado toast"-munching millennials for not being able to afford a house.

            1. Jellied Eel Silver badge

              Re: Faux-wholesome nonsense, but the "avocado toast" gives it away...

              So, tl;dr version, the shitty, overpriced housing market has a shitty, f****d-up, distorting effect on peoples' lives, society and the economy as a whole.

              Uh oh, we agree on something..

              In isolation, I wouldn't entirely disagree with everything you said, including the bit about flat-screen TVs and streaming services. But in this context, they just come across as part of the faux-wholesome back-to-basics-happy-life facade over something that's pretty much just victim blaming "avocado toast"-munching millennials for not being able to afford a house.

              And again.. Although I do think victim shaming the 'smashed avocado' crowd is a GoodThing, although it does seem to have become less trendy. Avocados are gross and probably one of the least environmentally friendly products on the market. Also apparently the cause of many hand injuries when idiots try to de-stone them. But they're perhaps symptomatic around lifestyle choices and spending priorities, eg eating out or ordering food in rather than learning to cook and saving a bit of money that way.

              1. MachDiamond Silver badge

                Re: Faux-wholesome nonsense, but the "avocado toast" gives it away...

                "Avocados are gross and probably one of the least environmentally friendly products on the market."

                I like them, but the cost can be rather expensive for what you get after you cut out the bits you don't want and what you have to throw away since they don't last very long. Good knife skills are important.

                If I buy steak when it's on offer, I can do a full dinner for less than the cost of a Big Mac combo. I bought a chest freezer to make sure I can take advantage of low prices since they'd often come about when I already had a full freezer. I just picked up another Food Saver vacuum unit brand new at an estate sale. I think I paid $1. I didn't need the vacuum sealer, but the kit comes with a supply of bags and that's where they get you. Lots of other people in my area are also going after the bags at sales so it's one of the things that needs to be sought out right at the beginning.

                Yes, the avocado toast reference was click-baity.

            2. MachDiamond Silver badge

              Re: Faux-wholesome nonsense, but the "avocado toast" gives it away...

              "People seem to be taught have come to the conclusion that owning a home isn't a good is an impossible goal and given up on it."

              Perhaps, but part of that may be due to endless entertainment subscriptions and a take-away coffee habit that's 20x the cost of brew up at home. I was house poor for a bit, but I would have been rent-poor during the same stretch. My goal wasn't a home in Beverly Hills or Silicon Valley, but something more inline with what I earn. My house isn't what most would see as aspirational, but getting a foot on the first rung is super important. I gave up in miliseconds over owning a million dollar home. I didn't give up on owning my own home at all and did the things that needed doing to get there.

              I used the avocado toast reference as bait, I'll admit. That said, I do have some avocados at the moment that will need eating up in the next couple of days and may wind up on toast, but they were given to me otherwise I wouldn't have them. I don't do fancy meals normally with expensive ingredients. I'm more than happy eating a chicken pie with a creamy garlic, mushroom sauce. I make those at home from scratch in fair batches so there's usually some in the freezer. Since I buy the chicken when it's on offer, the price per serving is low. I really put an effort into cooking at home from scratch as a defense against high prices so I could pay my mortgage and have a nice reliable car. Not a fancy car, though. Being on the hook for sizeable payments for several years can put one in a trap.

              House prices don't matter as a home owner unless you need to move and still owe on it. I really couldn't give a toss if my home was "worth" half of today's nominal value next week. The real trick is getting into a home at a payment that's affordable even if there's a need to take a new job at a lower salary. My situation was pretty unique so I won't go on about it other than to say I could have worked at the hardware store as a sale person and still made enough to get by, though not much more than that.

              Priorities and some restraint on luxuries. Mainly I'm on about what we are being told are our goals when it comes to things such as entertainment, where to live and what to eat.

        3. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

          Re: The Kremlin's "reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe"

          Entertainment is not a requirement, its for losers who have no life and need to be told which celebrity to follow. Real people go outside and make their own entertainment.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: The Kremlin's "reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe"

        At least when the Russians invade you and get their arses kicked they don't make a bunch of crappy films about how sad it made them feel

        1. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

          Re: The Kremlin's "reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe"

          AS opposed to American media always making movies about american war heroes... but when it really counts they are the most spineless in all the free world.

          Its a shame the real heroes in Ukraine who are fighting and dying so everyone else can be free arent given more help.

      3. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

        Re: The Kremlin's "reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe"

        In many ways there are many similiarities between the average american and russian.

        Both have many ultra religious people, coul dbe argued America is the most religious in the west, and that Russia is the most religuous in Europe.

        Both are also super patriotic, and unquestionably think they should die for their respective countries.

        Both make gods of their political leaders...sure half of america hate the president at any time, but the other half is super cultic about their leader... kinda like Russia and their god status of Putin.

        Both also have an obsession about Nazis, just watch american media, they really like to mention nazis.

  8. Irongut Silver badge

    > from summarization to ideation to helping identify key information

    Despite being touted as good at summarising text. LLMs are actually poorly suited to the task since one of the requisites for a good summary is to understand the original text and LLMs understand nothing.

    As for "ideation" they are also incapable of coming up with an original idea so they ae unsuited for that as well.

    It's really good to hear the spooks are using the right tools for the job. Oh wait.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    technology, when deployed alongside traditional weaponry, "can alter the course of war,"

    this is an empty, irrelevant statement. Pretty much anything 'can' change the course of war, starting with x100 more Western weapons supplies for Ukraine (or zero supplies). Putin dying tomorrow, or Putin living for another 25 years. 500K extra trained Ukrainian troops, or 500K extra on the Russian side. Russian economy standing up to the sanctions, or Russian econony collapsing tomorrow. 10 years ago they would have mentioned blockchain which 'can' alter the course of war, but it's 2024, so they mention 'AI', who's the audience for this? Cynic mode on: must be politicians to increase funding, because who else, the general public don't give a flying about what they say...

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: technology, when deployed alongside traditional weaponry, "can alter the course of war,"

      LLMs have been having a pretty big impact in the military and intelligence spheres for a decade or two now. Probably not as much as the hype might suggest - but also probably a lot more than most people realise.

      Modern military sensors are taking in vast amounts of data. Far more than can be processed by humans. So you want to try and use that data - and this has been a problem the military have struggled with and tried to automate since World War II. A lot of the patterns you’re looking for are quite repetitive too - and can be confirmed by humans. Which gives you a good ability to both train, and test, an LLM.

      There’s an awful lot of businesses who’ve jumped on the “AI” bandwagon, now it’s fashionable. But serious militaries have been using this stuff for a long time now.

      1. CowHorseFrog Silver badge

        Re: technology, when deployed alongside traditional weaponry, "can alter the course of war,"

        What utter bullshit. If the US military had LLM they wouldnt have built all the lemons they have such as those stealth literral ships.

  10. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge
    Pirate

    The Buck Stops Here .......

    Whenever this ........ ALGORITHMIC WARFARE: U.S. Still Admiring Problem of Foreign Influence Operations ... and the tales told within are your problem requiring solution, and you have nothing effective to field in successful competition or decisive overwhelming conflict, are wars and battles against peer opposition and smarter contemporaries lost, dreams and economies destroyed and future influence aspirations recognised as hubris bordering on psychosis attending to madness.

    And to continually fail to recognise the inherent failing, and to jump headlong into any defence which denies the catastrophically obvious, is as much proof as anyone with a titter of wit needs to confirm the uncomfortable truth of the above.

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: The Buck Stops Here .......

      Welcome back, we were worried you'd been deleted killed in the AI wars

  11. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

    Hmmmm ????? A Glitch in the Force??????

    This is an unusual situation for publishing, El Reg ...... a post from the recent past back into the present, a simply complex resting place and launch pad for the unknown unknowns of the near future ‽

    1. Clausewitz4.0 Bronze badge
      Devil

      Re: Hmmmm ????? A Glitch in the Force??????

      Analyzing the fate of IronNet / Keith Alexander, we can see where CIA/NSA/MI6 are heading to.

  12. steviebuk Silver badge

    from summarization

    Which will ignore the threat that someone is going to bomb a high profile target and in the "lessons learned" we'll hear that, "Dave used AI to summarise shit and that AI missed the fucking obvious".

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