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Aspen Digital

Envisioning Cyber Futures With A.I.

A circular pattern resembling sound waves. It represents two dueling cyber futures: one good, one bad.
January 9, 2024

Aspen Digital

What does AI mean for cybersecurity?

In 2023, the Aspen Institute’s US and Global Cybersecurity Groups led a working group with cybersecurity leaders in industry, government, and civil society. The goal was to think through what the uses and misuses of artificial intelligence (AI) could mean for cybersecurity in terms of both risks and benefits.

We began in the future. Our discussions with the working group involved articulating and defining two extreme, yet realistic, scenarios: a “good place” in which these emerging technology tools disproportionately benefit cybersecurity defenders and a “bad place” in which the benefits instead disproportionately go to the attacker. After establishing both possible worlds, these experts then developed recommendations, “carrots and sticks,” for nudging society toward the good place. With the insights from these scenarios, Aspen Digital is excited to unveil Envisioning Cyber Futures with AI, a resource that defines the forces that can drive the world in either direction and more importantly that provides a roadmap for what both the private and public sector can do to get to the “good place.”

Additional Perspective on Envisioning cyber futures with A.I.

Get the expanded view of a member of the US Cybersecurity Group.
Putting Good and Bad in Context

Putting Good and Bad in Context

“Good” and “bad” have strong moral and ethical connotations, and in the real world in which we live, those connotations cannot be ignored.

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