The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is set to introduce an artificial intelligence (AI) tool akin to OpenAI Inc.'s renowned ChatGPT AI program.
This move aims to facilitate analysts' access to open-source intelligence, according to the agency's Open-Source Enterprise division.
Randy Nixon, the division's director, shared in a Bloomberg interview, "We've gone from newspapers and radio, to newspapers and television, to newspapers and cable television, to basic internet, to big data, and it just keeps going. We have to find the needles in the needle field." This statement underscores the CIA's drive to harness vast data resources more efficiently.
Bloomberg reports that this initiative forms part of a broader government strategy to leverage AI's power to compete effectively with China. However, the CIA's assertion that the data is entirely "publicly and commercially available" has raised questions. The agency did not clarify its strategy to prevent information from flooding the open internet.
Nixon emphasized the CIA's commitment to complying with U.S. privacy laws. However, concerns about potential privacy infringements persist. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has expressed apprehensions about intelligence entities like the CIA transforming into largely unregulated commercial marketplaces. These entities could amass extensive private data, including individuals' physical locations derived from their mobile devices.
According to the CIA, a person's physical location qualifies as "open-source information," even if only governments can access such data. Nixon stated that the new AI tool would enable users to trace the original source of any accessed information. He highlighted that using a chat feature is crucial for faster intelligence dissemination.
"Then you can take it to the next level and start chatting and asking questions of the machines to give you answers, also sourced," Nixon elaborated. "Our collection can just continue to grow and grow with no limitations other than how much things cost."
The AI tool will be distributed to the entire 8-agency U.S. intelligence community, including the CIA, National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and various military branches. However, the tool will not be accessible to ordinary citizens and public policymakers.
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