Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, issued a warning on Monday regarding the possible criminal use of artificial intelligence-based chatbots (ChatGPT) in phishing attempts, disinformation campaigns and cybercrime. The warning adds to a growing list of issues surrounding technology, ranging from legal to ethical.

Since its launch last year, ChatGPT has generated tech buzz, encouraging competitors to offer similar products and encouraging companies to incorporate these or similar technologies into their apps and services. In its first whitepaper on ChatGPT, Europol warned that the continued development of major language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT could lead to their increased use by criminals, leading to a bleak future.

Europol has identified three main areas of crime where malicious use of ChatGPT is of serious concern:

• Phishing: Europol noted that ChatGPT’s ability to generate very realistic text makes it an attractive tool for phishing purposes. The ability of a chatbot to imitate speech patterns and the speech styles of certain individuals or groups can be used by criminals to attack.
• Propaganda and disinformation: ChatGPT’s ability to generate real text quickly and at scale makes it an ideal tool for propaganda and disinformation campaigns. Europol explained that the technology allows users to create and share messages that reflect specific narratives with minimal effort.
• Cybercrime: Europol also warned that criminals with limited technical knowledge could use ChatGPT to generate malicious code. This means that even people with minimal programming skills can use ChatGPT’s capabilities to engage in cybercriminal activities.

Europol’s warning is a reminder of the potential dangers posed to society by advanced artificial intelligence technologies such as ChatGPT. While these innovations offer numerous benefits and conveniences, it is critical that law enforcement, policy makers, and technology developers work together and create security measures to prevent these powerful tools from being misused by criminals.