The Russia watchDecades of fake news; the Russian disinformation playbook; 2020 elections security concerns, and more
· Weapons of the weak: Russia and AI-driven asymmetric warfare
· Decades of fake news, courtesy of the Kremlin
· Inside the Russian disinformation playbook: Exploit tension, sow chaos
· Facebook’s ex-security chief meets with Hill lawmakers, cites concerns ahead of 2020 elections
· Facebook fallout ruptures Democrats’ longtime alliance with Silicon Valley
· Facebook hired firm with ‘in-house fake news shop’ to combat PR crisis
· Did Facebook merely ‘deflect’ after realizing Russian disinformation?
· How Hungary became a weapon of Russian disinformation
· Here are the MPs that Russian trolls targeted the most
· New evidence emerges of Steve Bannon and Cambridge Analytica’s role in Brexit
Weapons of the weak: Russia and AI-driven asymmetric warfare (Alina Polyakova, Brookings)
Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.” – Russian President Vladimir Putin, 2017.
“A people that no longer can believe anything cannot make up its mind. It is deprived not only of its capacity to act but also of its capacity to think and to judge. And with such a people you can then do what you please.” – Hannah Arendt, 1978
AI has the potential to hyperpower Russia’s use of disinformation … And unlike in the conventional military space, the United States and Europe are ill-equipped to respond to AI-driven asymmetric warfare in the information space.
Speaking to Russian students on the first day of the school year in September 2017, Putin squarely positioned Russia in the technological arms race for artificial intelligence (AI). Putin’s comment (see above) signaled that, like China and the United States, Russia sees itself engaged in direct geopolitical competition with the world’s great powers, and AI is the currency that Russia is betting on. But, unlike the United States and China, Russia lags behind in research and development on AI and other emerging technologies. Russia’s economy makes up less than 2 percent of global GDP compared to 24 percent for the United States and 15 percent for China, which puts Russia on par with a country like Spain. Despite Putin’s focus on AI, the Russian government has not released a strategy, like China has, on how the country plans to lead in this area. The Russian government’s future investment in AI research is unknown, but reports estimate that it spends approximately $12.5 million a year on AI research, putting it far behind China’s plan to invest $150 billion through 2030. The U.S. Department of Defense alone spends $7.4 billion annually on unclassified research and development on AI and related fields. (Cont.)
