Ep. 21 - Is Artificial Intelligence Going to be a Threat to our Safety?

Is all this AI talk making us (in)secure? Our host Amarnath Amarasingam sits down with Yannick Veilleux-Lepage (Royal Military College of Canada) and David Wells to discuss the security challenges that Artificial Intelligence poses, and how might it be something we need to worry about.

Dr. Yannick Veilleux-Lepage is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the Royal Military College of Canada. His research explores the intersection of technology, ideology, and political violence, with particular focus on terrorist innovation, online propaganda, and the use of emerging technologies by violent extremist organizations. He has published extensively on topics including the adoption of 3D-printed firearms by extremist actors, the role of technological convergence in terrorist threat evolution, and the use of evolutionary theory in understanding terrorist behavior.

David Wells is an independent global security expert, who was most recently Head of Research and Analysis at the UN Counter-Terrorism Directorate in New York, managing the team who monitor global security and geopolitical trends for the Security Council. Prior to joining the UN in 2017, David worked in a variety of policy and research roles in Australia and the United Kingdom, and began his career working for UK intelligence agency GCHQ between 2005 and 2013, including two years as a UK counter-terrorism liaison officer to Australia. David was a Research Associate at the Lowy Institute for International Policy in 2016.