Info War in Mali
AFRICAGLOBAL SECURITYGEOPOLITICS
Photo: allafrica.com
Mali's warring factions are increasingly waging an information war with artificial intelligence alongside their fight on the ground, according to a study published Wednesday by the Dakar-based Timbuktu Institute. The report, "Algorithms at War," found jihadist group JNIM experimenting with basic AI propaganda, separatist networks building fake online personas, and Russia's Africa Corps deploying the technology on a far more sophisticated, state-level scale.
The study tracked AI use across Mali's conflict, from JNIM's AI-generated propaganda posters and potential for auto-translated recruitment pitches in Sahel languages like Fulani and Bambara, to Tuareg independence group FLA's creation of entirely artificial "fighters" such as "Azzghim," an AI-generated character used to criticize Russian forces online. Africa Corps, the successor to Wagner, was found to run the most advanced operation, producing deepfakes and coordinated social media campaigns; researchers counted 19 such disinformation campaigns across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger since 2018, with some content reaching nearly five million views. "With AI, Russian disinformation is moving to a completely different scale," said Timbuktu Institute director Bakary Sambe. "We are going from cottage industry to industrial production, with plausible deniability thrown in."
Researchers warned the technology's use could soon extend beyond propaganda into military operations, including target identification for drone strikes, and toward highly personalized recruitment campaigns tailored to individual recruits. "Tomorrow's jihadism will no longer recruit en masse," Sambe said. "It will recruit person by person and tailor its approach to each individual."