Conversations in Computing: Bruce Schneier on Hacking AI

Join internationally renowned security technologist, author and public commentator Bruce Schneier for Hacking AI, a discussion on how AI systems can identify and exploit vulnerabilities across economic, political and social systems, and the implications of those vulnerabilities being discovered and exploited at increasing speed and scale.

This event is hosted by the University of Toronto’s Department of Computer Science and is presented in partnership with the Vector Institute and the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society.

Abstract

Humans are hacking AI systems. Humans are hacking with AI systems. But also, AIs are hacking human systems. They’re finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in computer code, and they’ll soon be doing the same with all sorts of other codes. For example: the tax code can be hacked. Vulnerabilities are called loopholes, exploits are called tax avoidance strategies, and black hats are called accountants. Similarly, financial markets can be hacked. So can any system of rules or laws, including democracy itself. AIs will hack these systems at our request, and they’ll also do this innately, organically – and possibly in ways we don’t immediately see. We need to consider a world where increasingly sophisticated hacks of our social, economic, and political systems are discovered at computer speeds, and then exploited at computer scale and scope. Right now, our systems of patching these systems operate at a human pace, which won’t be good enough.

About the speaker

Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist, called a “security guru” by The Economist. He has written over a dozen books—including his latest, Rewiring Democracy—as well as hundreds of articles and essays, and many more academic papers. His influential newsletter Crypto-Gram and his blog Schneier on Security are read by over 250,000 people. He has testified before Congress, is a frequent guest on television and radio, has served on several government technical committees, and is regularly quoted in the press.

Registration

To register for the event, visit the official event page.