Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, has issued a warning about the potential misuse of Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The agency has identified the AI-powered chatbot’s ability to produce highly realistic text as a valuable tool for phishing attempts, disinformation, and cybercrime.
According to Europol, the chatbot’s ability to mimic language patterns to impersonate specific individuals or groups makes it a useful tool for phishing purposes. Criminals can use it to target victims, making them believe they are communicating with a legitimate source.
Moreover, the AI-powered chatbot’s ability to produce authentic-sounding text at speed and scale makes it an ideal tool for propaganda and disinformation. Criminals can use ChatGPT to generate and spread messages reflecting a specific narrative with relatively little effort.
Europol has also noted that criminals with little technical knowledge could use ChatGPT to produce malicious code. The agency’s report highlights that “As the capabilities of LLMs (large language models) such as ChatGPT are actively being improved, the potential exploitation of these types of AI systems by criminals provides a grim outlook.”
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.