Terrorism is not a new phenomenon and almost every part of the world has experienced terrorist attacks. All of us read newspapers or watch news daily about terrorism. We know that terrorism has negative nature and it can affect our lives destructively. In some cases, terrorist attacks can disrupt governments and international organizations like United Nations from functioning positively and normally. Terrorist attacks can weakene security pattern of acountry. Also, it can spread fear throughout country. Furthermore, an unexpected terrorist attacks cause a lot of psychological, physical issues.

In the past, terrorists used cold weapons such as knife for attacking against a group of people. Over the years, using of weapons by terrorists has evolved. Nowadays, terrorists use technological weapons like missiles, guns and so on. and tools for attacking against a state or a group of people because of technological progress.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

21st century can be called the century of technological progress and technological tools. Meanwhile, one of the developing technologies that have attracted the attention of many people around the world is called artificial intelligence. One of the most important and controversial issues in the world these days is the issue of artificial intelligence and its positive and negative effects on various fields of knowledge, including medicine, education, space, economy and law. Not long ago, Geoffrey Hinton, known as the father of artificial intelligence, announced in his interview that the world must find a way to control this developing technology. Since artificial intelligence is progressing and will gradually become an integral part of human life, and because its positive impacts are more than its negative effects, it is necessary to protect the human race by using this technology correctly.

Artificial intelligence is the ability of digital computers and machines to perform specific tasks similar to what humans do. Artificial intelligence is capable of thinking, planning, learning, interacting, extracting knowledge, and predicting diverse digital information that requires precise mental processes. In fact, artificial intelligence refers to information systems that can perform actions that are similar to the human ability to solve problems and uses computer algorithms to perform tasks that require human intelligence. Many people think that artificial intelligence is the same robots that are designed to do things easier. The reason for this way of thinking is largely science fiction movies. But there is a difference between artificial intelligence and robotics. Artificial intelligence is a technology that can think. Of course, this thinking is different from what we know as human thinking, but it tries to imitate it. Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science whose main goal is to produce intelligent machines capable of performing tasks that require human intelligence. Artificial intelligence is a kind of simulation of human intelligence for computers, and artificial intelligence means a machine that is programmed to think like and can human and has the ability to imitate human behavior.

The history of artificial intelligence dates back to the years of world war II. When the German forces used the Enigma machine to encrypt and send messages securely, Alan Turing, an English scientist, designed a machine called bombe in an attempt to break these codes. Both of these machines are the foundations of machine learning, which is one of the branches of artificial intelligence.

One of the most crucial efficiencies of artificial intelligence in the field of security is to deal with the phenomenon of terrorism and extremism. Terrorism is a big transnational challenge that the whole world is facing. Therefore, the danger of terrorism and the spread of extremist ideas through technological advances is more prominent. Artificial Intelligence is evolving as an effective Counter-terrorism technique, paving the way for armed forces to take predictive counterterrorism measures to prevent violent extremism within borders. Preventing terrorist attacks and identifying terrorists are considered a basic necessity for any country, and advanced technologies will help in this field and facilitate this. ISIS, a group that was founded in 2013, used advanced technologies and expanded the scope of its attacks beyond the Middle East and even managed to attract a large number of people under the title of foreign fighters through the spread of extremist ideas around the world.

Anti-terrorism experts believe that there are two ways to prevent terrorist attacks: First, protecting infrastructure and people and conducting security controls, the other way is to deprive terrorists to carry out terrorist attacks by arresting them before they carry out their attacks and fighting against extremism and recruitment of terrorists.

Artificial Intelligence tools such as facial recognition technology or other data collection tools are used to prevent terrorist attacks. The use of Artificial Intelligence increases the security factor in the fight against terrorism. Norman Geddes, executive director of a software manufacturing company in the state of Georgia, believes that the use of artificial intelligent has a great impact on increasing reliability factor. He added that the systems based on artificial intelligent will be able to identify the behavior patterns of these people by examining and studying the behavior of terrorists and as a result of the emergence of these patterns, they can quickly recognize them. Therefore, using artificial intelligence tools effectively can eliminate the possibility of terrorist attacks and create a more powerful world.

Usage of Artificial Intelligent by Terrorist Organizations

These days, terrorist organizations are trying their best to achieve high-tech weapons. In addition, extremist organizations are trying to operate special weapons which can be supported and conducted by artificial intelligence. One of the most important weapons which can be controlled by artificial intelligence is Drones. Moreover, this type of weapon can be manipulated for terrorist attacks. Drones can enable terrorists to begin and conduct terrorist attacks by using less number of people and weapons. There are many examples which can be considered as usage of drones by terrorists.

ISIS used unmanned aerial vehicle to attack Kurdish and French positions in the north of Iraq. This attack can be considered as the first terrorists attack which conducted by highly developed technologies. ISIS announced a special name “Unmanned Aircraft of Mujahideen”, which its main goal was to use and develop UAVs as part of a long-term strategy for weaponising and advancing drone technology. Moreover, ISIS used drone technology for targeting and surveillance in Iraq and Syria. ISIS was making advances in modernization, manufacturing and development of drones.