ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said they were increasingly concerned about how AI was being "weaponised".

Commissioner Kershaw said he was particularly concerned about the increasing use of AI in creating "diabolic" child abuse material. He cited examples of how technology was "nudifying children whose clothed images have been uploaded online for perfectly legitimate reasons".

"We're increasingly seeing AI being weaponised, particularly in the creation of child exploitation material. Technology is being used to manipulate innocent images of children for nefarious purposes."

He said one thing parents could do to keep their children safe was lock down their social media settings. This will make it harder for others to access images and use AI to create abusive material.

He said the AFP was also talking to social media companies about how to help identify a "tsunami of AI generated abuse material we know is coming".

"There is no silver bullet and offenders are always looking at how they can beat technological countermeasure" Kershaw said.

AI advice on weapon building

Meanwhile, Mr Burgess highlighted the potential for AI to significantly enhance adversaries' capabilities.

"We're aware of an offshore extremist already asking a commercially available AI programme for advice on building weapons and attack planning" Mr Burgess said.

"And when the programme refuses to provide the requested information, the extremists will try, and have tried, to bypass ethical handbrakes" Burgess continued. "The internet is the most potential incubator of extremism. AI is likely to make radicalisation easier and faster."

When asked how concerned he was by the artificial intelligence threat of revenge porn or other instances targeting adults, Commissioner Kershaw said it depended on how "innovative and ingenious" criminals were.

"I have no doubt that they will weaponise AI to their advantage. So we will see more victims, more than likely, and perhaps more silent victims, which we won't know about" he said.

"And that's why we're really encouraging the community to contact police … to report it."

Sources

The Australian

CathNews New Zealand

AUSTRAC, the Australian Government agency responsible for detecting, deterring and disrupting criminal abuse of the financial system to protect the community from serious and organised crime is involved in tracing the $1.1m.

Appearing before a Senate estimates committee, AUSTRAC chief Nicole Rose (pictured) confirmed the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Victorian Police have been told of the financial watchdog's concerns.

Rose did not go into the nature of the information AUSTRAC had passed on or why it had been given to the state and federal police.

"The AFP has concurrently referred aspects of this matter to the Victorian Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC)," a spokesperson says.

The Secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Mike Pezzullo, was also asked at the Senate estimates committee meeting if his department had received any requests from Pell's legal team to examine the matter.

Pezzullo said he wasn't aware of anything but would look into it.

Becciu's lawyer says his client strongly denies any interference with Pell's trial.

Viv Waller, a lawyer for a man who gave evidence against Pell in the 2018 trial, denies her client received any money.

However, Pell's barrister, Robert Richter QC, recently called for an investigation into reports about transfers from the Vatican.

"I am treating these reports as requiring a proper investigation by all fiscal authorities to track the money coming to Australia," he said earlier this month.

Three weeks ago, Vatican authorities' began an investigation of the alleged disappearance of the money.

The alleged disappearance of the money coincides with Cardinal Giovanni Becciu being removed from his post at the Vatican. Becciu also relinquished his rights as a cardinal.

Sources

• The Australian
• SBS News
• Image: ABC