ISIS has reportedly been offering prompt engineering and jailbreak training since 2023 and has trained Boko Haram commanders in Nigeria on how to bypass AI safety filters.
Boko Haram now uses popular AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Meta AI, and DeepSeek, and both of its factions have set up dedicated AI units, according to a new study by researcher Antonia Jülich of the Cambridge Programme on AI Science & Policy (CASP). Jülich conducted 57 interviews with 27 former members of the group.
The group uses AI for attack planning, building more powerful explosive devices, weapons maintenance, and operational security, the study found. ISIS liaisons trained commanders on how to bypass safety filters. Both Boko Haram factions set up their own dedicated AI units. According to Jülich, they "assembled the top people in a room and used a projector to show how it works on a big screen."
In one particularly wild case, the ISWAP faction used AI to replicate motorcycle jumping techniques from a movie so fighters could clear trenches. Eighteen fighters died during training. Eight made the jump.
A former ISWAP commander (Munzir) tells researcher Antonia Jülich how the group used AI to learn how to jump over trenches on motorcycles. | Image: via Jülich / Cambridge Programme on AI Science & Policy
