Artificial intelligence is already affecting the UK's security risks and could "change the stakes" in the field of biological weapons. This was stated on Tuesday by the head of Britain's counterintelligence service MI5, Ken McCallum, speaking with an annual report on threats at the agency's headquarters on the banks of the Thames.
According to him, today AI "is already strengthening cybersecurity in the contest between attackers and defenders." In addition, the technology has "the potential to change the stakes in existing or even new biological weapons."
McCallum announced that this year MI5 created a new Artificial Intelligence Threat Assessment Center, which is located at the service's headquarters. The center draws on expertise from other organizations and "prepares assessments from all sources, separating empty threats from reality."
"Simply put, human history does not give us experience of confronting an entity that is smarter than us and capable of outsmarting us. This really is something new," he added.
According to the MI5 chief, the agency has already identified suspects who use AI to improve intelligence and attack methods, including with the help of AI-enabled drones. He did not provide details about specific incidents.
McCallum also said that the service is devoting more resources to combating threats from foreign states than at any time since the end of the Cold War. "Over the past decade, the number of cases related to state threats has grown fourfold," he said, adding: "Russia remains aggressor number one."
According to him, Russian military and special services "are again stepping up attempts at hybrid warfare." However, he noted, four years after Russia's war against Ukraine began in 2022, "the Kremlin's global toolkit is weak." "We see them hastily paying criminals to carry out their tasks or using naive volunteers," McCallum said.
He also indicated that Iran is seeking to expand hybrid warfare: over the past 12 months, more than 50 arrests have been made in operations linked to Iran. On Monday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham told members of parliament that a recent incident at an airbase in southwest England used by the US army was "highly likely" coordinated from Iran.
"Those who seek to create chaos on British streets - whether hired thugs here or their masters abroad - will receive an unwavering rebuff," McCallum promised.