Generative AI a new tool in Mali’s information war: study

Generative AI is increasingly used for information warfare in Mali, according to a study released Wednesday, with the conflict’s factions mastering the technology to varying degrees.

The analysis by the Timbuktu Institute, a Dakar-based think tank, found that generative AI was being used to “amplify and accelerate” existing faultlines within the west African country, which is serving as an “open-air laboratory” for the technology’s use in warfare.

The Sahelian nation has been wracked since 2012 by a serious security crisis, notably fuelled by violence from jihadists, along with criminal gangs and armed separatists.