The US has lifted its intelligence sharing pause with Ukraine. But the damage may already be done: Parilov/Shutterstock There has been a great deal of speculation about whether Elon Musk might deny Ukraine access to his satellite network system, Starlink – and what might happen if he did. Musk fuelled talk of a possible shutdown …
Human intelligence: how cognitive circuitry, rather than brain size, drove its evolution: wikipedia/Foley, CC BY-SA It’s one of the great paradoxes of evolution. Humans have demonstrated that having large brains are key to our evolutionary success, and yet such brains are extremely rare in other animals. Most get by on tiny brains, and don’t seem …
Why Israel’s intelligence chiefs failed to listen to October 7 warnings – and the lessons to be learned: Shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, when an estimated 2,000 Hamas fighters breached the Israel-Gaza border in 29 different places, the Israeli security establishment allowed a narrative to form that it had very …
Why OpenAI developing an artificial intelligence that’s good at maths is such a big deal: Daboost / Shutterstock With the recent sacking and swift rehiring of Sam Altman by OpenAI, debates around the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) are once again in the spotlight. What’s more unusual is that a prominent theme in …
AI: the world is finally starting to regulate artificial intelligence – what to expect from US, EU and China’s new laws: Have a nice day Photo / Shutterstock Most mainstream applications of artificial intelligence (AI) make use of its ability to crunch large volumes of data, detecting patterns and trends within. The results can help …
How Israel underestimated Hamas’s intelligence capabilities – an expert reviews the evidence: Israel has a cutting-edge security technology industry and was (and still should be) considered to be the leading nation for national security. The controversial electronic intelligence platform Pegasus was developed in Israel, and the border between Israel and Gaza was considered – before …
World’s biggest bat colony gathers in Zambia every year: we used artificial intelligence to count them: Straw-coloured fruit bats at Kasanka National Park, Zambia. Fabian von Poser/Getty Images Everybody who visits Kasanka National Park in Zambia during “bat season” agrees that the evening emergence of African straw-coloured fruit bats from their roost site is one …
Kenya’s new spy chief will lead the national intelligence service – what the job is all about: Getty Images Kenya’s President William Ruto recently nominated a new national intelligence chief. Breaking with tradition, the president picked a career intelligence officer, Noordin Haji. But what is national intelligence and what work does it do, particularly in …
Israel at 75: how inept British intelligence failed to contain Jewish independence groups: David Ben-Gurion formally declares Israel as an independent state on May 14 1948. Rudi Weissenstein – Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs Before they were Israeli, the Jewish community of Palestine – the Yishuv – had been Britain’s close junior partner. A dispute …
Intelligence agencies have used AI since the cold war – but now face new security challenges: Recent publicity around the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT has led to a great deal of public concern about its growth and potential. Italy recently banned the latest version, citing concerns about privacy because of its ability to use information …
Pentagon leak of US intelligence on Ukraine and other allies shows failure to learn from Chelsea Manning affair: The world’s media was predictably alive last weekend with speculation about Jack Teixeira, the young US guardsman who was charged in a case involving leaked confidential US defence and intelligence documents. The actual charge levelled against the …
Edit your photos with open source artificial intelligence: Edit your photos with open source artificial intelligence Don Watkins Sat, 04/15/2023 – 03:00 I’ve been interested in photography ever since I co-opted my father’s Kodak 620 camera as a young boy. I used it to take pictures of the flora and fauna of our neighborhood. My …
Ukraine recap: downbeat US intelligence leak suggests no end in sight for the misery of this war: What we know – or think we know – about the progress of the war in Ukraine over the past few days has come courtesy of leaked Pentagon documents which appear to cover, in some detail, a wide …
South Africa’s intelligence agency needs speedy reform – or it must be shut down: Mondli Gungubele, Minister in the Presidency, is in charge of intelligence. Siyabulela Duga/GCIS South Africa’s civilian intelligence service, the State Security Agency, is a broken institution. It is meant to provide intelligence to forewarn the country about national security threats. Powerful …
Artificial intelligence in South Africa comes with special dilemmas – plus the usual risks: 3rdtimeluckystudio/Shutterstock When people think about artificial intelligence (AI), they may have visions of the future. But AI is already here. At its base, it is the recreation of aspects of human intelligence in computerised form. Like human intelligence, it has wide …
South Africa’s intelligence watchdog is failing civil society. How to restore its credibility: Shutterstock In October, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and his cabinet committed to a range of reforms to the country’s intelligence services. He based these reforms on recommendations made by the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture. The reforms include strengthening …
Sandton terror alert: time for South Africa to improve its intelligence sharing channels with the US: South African foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, right, hosts US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, for the SA-US Strategic Dialogue in Pretoria, in August 2022. Jacoline Schoonees/Dirco The announcement in October 2022 by the US embassy in South Africa of …
Artificial intelligence is used for predictive policing in the US and UK – South Africa should embrace it, too: Predictive policing may be a useful addition to traditional policing in contexts like South Africa. Fani Mahuntsi/Gallo Images via Getty Images In the 2002 movie Minority Report (based on a short story by Philip K Dick), …