Boko Haram fighters are using the artificial intelligence chatbots of Big Tech companies to help build more powerful bombs, plan attacks and solve problems during combat, according to research by the University of Cambridge.
uncertain
fighters → use → Cambridge
Researchers interviewed 27 former members of Boko Haram’s two factions – the ISIL affiliate in West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad (JAS).
asserted
Researchers → interview → Province
A number of members described using Sam Altman-led OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini, Elon Musk’s Grok, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta AI and China’s DeepSeek as a routine source of technical and military advice before, during and after attacks.
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number → describe → attacks
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Meanwhile, exclusive material obtained by Al Jazeera reveals how supporters of the wider ISIL (ISIS) movement are sharing instructions on bypassing AI safety controls and obtaining weapons-related information.
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supporters → summon → information
Researchers at Tech Against Terrorism infiltrated a pro-ISIL technical forum where supporters instructed one another on how to use AI and circumvent its safety restrictions.
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supporters → infiltrate → restrictions
The findings come amid growing concern over ISIL’s adoption of emerging technologies.
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findings → come → technologies
In February, United Nations officials warned the Security Council of increased use of advanced AI by ISIL and its affiliates.
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officials → warn → ISIL
At the same time, researchers and several of the technology industry’s most prominent figures have warned that increasingly powerful AI systems are advancing faster than safeguards, raising concerns that unchecked advances in AI are making it easier for armed groups to exploit the technology.
“There is nothing we haven’t received an answer on,” a former ISWAP commander told the researchers.
asserted
commander → warn → researchers
From a projector to the battlefield
Deep inside a rebel stronghold in northeastern Nigeria, former fighters described a strikingly organised and sophisticated system for putting the technology to use.
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fighters → describe → use
According to the Cambridge research, operatives travelled to ISWAP-controlled territory to teach senior members how to use AI.
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operatives → accord → AI
Fighters were selected and assembled in rooms around laptops and projectors and shown how to query chatbots and circumvent the safeguards designed to prevent them from answering dangerous requests.
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Fighters → select → requests
“The white guys came and taught us,” one former commander recalled.
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commander → come → us
“They assembled the top people in a room and used a projector to show how it works on a big screen.”
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it → assemble → screen
The trainers supplied laptops equipped with privacy and encryption tools, while accounts and paid subscriptions to multiple AI platforms were set up for members, according to former fighters cited in the study.
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accounts → supply → study
Respondents repeatedly identified the wider ISIL movement as the source of their AI training.
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Respondents → identify → training
What followed, the research suggests, went far beyond occasional use of ChatGPT by individual fighters.
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research → follow → fighters
Both ISWAP and JAS established dedicated AI units staffed by people with specialist operational knowledge, including engineers, weapons specialists and bomb-makers.
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ISWAP → establish → engineers
One former JAS commander described a specialised unit of 23 people working from a solar-powered room, where its members answered questions, analysed information and trained senior commanders gathered around a laptop.
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members → describe → laptop
“‘[Ask] how can I build a bomb?’ and then it tells you how,” explained a former Boko Haram commander.
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commander → ask → you
We used it a lot.”
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We → use → it
Another former member was similarly enthusiastic: “God has helped us, and so will AI.”
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AI → help → us
Often, according to the study, bomb-makers would keep laptops beside them, each time returning to the chatbot when they encountered a problem while they assembled explosive devices.
Building bombs with AI
Antonia Juelich, who authored the Cambridge study, told Al Jazeera roughly 10 of the 27 people interviewed discussed the use of AI in relation to explosives, including attempts to make bombs more powerful and recover explosive material from military ordnance.
But what Juelich found most concerning was not simply that fighters could obtain information about weapons – much of that has long been available in manuals and online.
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much → accord → manuals
AI could instead respond to the specific problem in front of them.
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AI → respond → them
She pointed to accounts of fighters asking AI how to improve explosives using the limited materials they already had available.
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they → point → materials
Rather than searching for generic instructions, they could tell the chatbot what materials they had, ask questions and return with follow-ups when they encountered problems.
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they → search → problems
This gave them something closer to a technical expert available 24 hours a day, tailoring its answers to the materials they had and the bomb they were trying to build.
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they → give → materials
Some of the other striking accounts concern unexploded military ordnance, where ISWAP had sought to recover explosive material from bombs and other munitions that failed to detonate, according to the Cambridge research.
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that → concern → research
During one earlier incident described in the report, fighters disagreed over how to deal with an unexploded bomb.
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fighters → describe → bomb
After they approached and handled it, the device exploded, reportedly killing 40 people.
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device → approach → people
Former members said AI was now being consulted for guidance on recovering military-grade explosives from unexploded ordnance dropped or fired by opposing forces, which could then be repurposed in the group’s own devices.
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which → say → devices
AI was also reportedly used to adapt commercially available drones to carry and drop explosives onto targets.
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AI → use → targets
The bomb-making accounts were only one part of the story, with former fighters describing AI reaching into almost every stage of combat.
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fighters → make → combat
In one account, a fighter entered combat with a camera strapped to his chest, transmitting images back to camp.
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fighter → enter → camp
A commander uploaded them to ChatGPT, used it to analyse the situation and relayed new instructions to fighters on the front line.
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commander → upload → line
AI was also reportedly consulted when fighters encountered unfamiliar weapons.
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fighters → consult → weapons
In one instance, commanders asked one of the group’s so-called AI specialists how to operate newly acquired firearms.
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commanders → ask → firearms
His response suggested how routine the technology had become: “Just ask Grok,” referring to Elon Musk’s AI chatbot.
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technology → suggest → chatbot
In another account, fighters turned to AI after government forces dug trenches around bases to stop motorcycle assaults.
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forces → turn → assaults
…and 29 more, not listed.
The Aporia
