AI-powered Jihad: Islamic State’s new frontier in terror tactics

New Delhi, July 24 As the security agencies battle terror threats on multiple fronts, the latest challenge is terrorists using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to carry out attacks.

In fact, it was the Islamic State that had first encouraged its operatives to adopt this technology back in 2023.

Currently, the technology is being used by the Islamic State for media spawning. The media wings of the outfit have been using AI to create propaganda content. With a single image or video, they are generating multiple manipulated content. Further they have also using AI for multilingual translation. This helps them create content in as many languages as possible and this automatically reduces time and manpower for the Islamic State.

A report published by Tech Against Terrorism says that AI tools are being used to translate propaganda into multiple languages. The technology is being used to create personalised messages in a bid to undertake recruitment.

On the encrypted chat groups of the Islamic State, it has been found that propaganda content has been circulated in multiple languages. Further, the technology has also been used for creating speeches, images and environments that are interactive.

The operatives have also been found to customise messaging and the media. This, in turn, helps them target a much larger audience. Further, AI has been used to repurpose old propaganda material to create newer propaganda. This has helped them deliver the messages and material more frequently.

The use of generative AI has led to policy debates taking place, where the security planners are drawing up a new strategy to counter this threat.

The Islamic State had, in fact, put out a guide on how to use generative AI. While the adaptation had been slow in the years 2023 and 2024, things have moved fast for the Islamic State since May 2025. It put up a news bulletin using AI. This bulletin had an AI-generated presenter to read out the propaganda content of the terror outfit.

The Islamic State has also been using Rocket Chat, an encrypted platform, to put out these AI-generated news bulletins. The videos contained AI-generated characters who would mimic the broadcasting style of the mainstream media. The entire broadcast was made by using text-to-speech Artificial Intelligence (AI). The technology translated the written information into speech and also added an audio with a human voice.

A report by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) mentions that new technologies such as AI can be powerful tools. While speaking about the positive aspects of the technology, it also mentions that AI can be used for harmful purposes if it falls into the wrong hands. It goes on to state that the report must serve as an early warning for potential malicious uses and abuses of AI by terrorists. The global community and governments must proactively think about it. Such new technologies must do good and not cause harm, the UNICRI report also noted.

The Islamic State has also been using AI for virtual recruitment and planning. This is aimed at those who are potential lone wolf warriors, which the Islamic State largely relies upon. In order to do this, the outfit has been using AI-powered chatbots.

While Islamic State propaganda is nothing new, the worry for the agencies is that it could be used for planning operations. This is extremely worrisome, and if this experiment works, then the attacks carried out by the Islamic State could be far more precise and lethal.

In addition to all this, the Islamic State has also been exploring the possibility of using AI to power automated vehicles to carry out attacks. The outfit is trying to exploit the vulnerabilities in the AI-powered systems in order to carry out similar missions. The agencies have also learnt that attempts are being made to use the technology to hack into traffic signals and other guiding systems. If this works, then the outfit can manipulate the roads, which would cause a loss of lives.

Counterterrorism agencies are working overtime to combat this threat. Officials can use AI to analyse live videos to spot suspicious behaviour or objects. Furthermore, these AI tools can also be used to automatically detect and remove extremist propaganda material from online platforms which the terrorists are using. More importantly the technology can used to identify at-risk individuals and also analyse their online behaviour and activity.

The security planners say that there is a need for the policymakers, law enforcement agencies, and civil society to collaborate and develop strategies to counter terrorists from misusing generative Artificial Intelligence.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor