AI in intelligence is a threat to global and African security

As more countries adopt artificial intelligence in secret operations, the risk of abuses is rising, and the African continent faces added dangers because laws and safeguards are falling behind.

- By Jane Duncan

Agencies can use AI to decide who to surveil, who to profile as a terrorism suspect or who to select as a military target.

(Image: Midjourney AI)

Despite its huge potential to improve our quality of life, artificial intelligence (AI) is threatening global stability and security in dangerous ways, and Africa is particularly at risk.

State intelligence agencies can use AI for legitimate public purposes, such as for threat detection, analysis and defence. At the same time, the risk of unaccountable and destabilising abuses is growing.

These agencies can, for instance, use AI to mount cyberattacks by scanning networks for vulnerabilities and exploiting them, and can generate deepfakes and other forms of disinformation.

They can use AI to decide who to surveil, who to profile as a terrorism suspect or who to select as a military target, with limited to no external oversight and redress. They can also use autonomous weapons in dangerous, conflict-escalating ways, citing nebulous national security interests, and the shift to agentic AI is amplifying the danger.

What are some of the issues around how AI can be used, and is being used, in intelligence work for national security purposes? What needs to be done to prevent dangerous, even destabilising, abuses by the spies?

Countries across the democracy spectrum allow too much executive discretion on national security. When former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked intelligence documents detailing massive surveillance abuses, the resulting “Snowden moment” created pressure for intelligence reform. However, since then the struggle for intelligence accountability has lost ground.