Organised crime groups are using artificial intelligence to streamline their global drug-trafficking operations, authorities say, creating fake documents, identities and business records to facilitate large-scale imports and money-laundering.
Acting Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Donna Parsons said criminals were exploiting rapidly evolving technologies to recruit vulnerable community members and deceive Australia’s financial institutions as they evade law enforcement detection.
“The growing accessibility of AI technology is enabling criminal networks to operate more efficiently and adapt more quickly to disruption efforts by law enforcement agencies,” Parsons said.
She said while the emergence of artificial intelligence created new opportunities for innovation and economic growth, the technology was allowing criminal groups to fine-tune existing techniques and reduce the risk of detection.
Professor Toby Walsh, chief scientist at the University of New South Wales’ AI Institute, said that despite the benefits of artificial intelligence, the technology had given bad actors significant capabilities.
The warnings come amid increased sophistication of international crime syndicates targeting Australia.