Benjamin Ang - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Benjamin Ang
RSIS Commentaries, 2024
Artificial intelligence is increasingly used to power cyber influence operations in geopolitical ... more Artificial intelligence is increasingly used to power cyber influence operations in geopolitical competitions and conflicts, especially after the acceleration of generative AI development in 2022. As such operations could impact the security of countries in Southeast Asia, the ASEAN member states should study them in depth and cooperate
more in information sharing.
COMMENTARY
OpenAI, the organisation that developed the artificial intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT, announced in August 2024 that it had identified and banned accounts using the tool to generate content for an influence operation targeting the 2024 US presidential campaign. With help from Microsoft’s threat intelligence reports, OpenAI found that this operation was likely to be linked to Iran. The operation used ChatGPT to create socially polarising articles to share on social media and websites.
Similar to how commercially available drone technology has made airpower more attainable by lesser military actors, commercially available generative AI, which is AI capable of generating text, images, videos, or other data using generative models, places more information power in the hands of such actors engaged in conflicts with major cyber powers.
AI is increasingly being applied in cyber influence operations as part of geopolitical competitions or information warfare during armed conflicts. Its utility has enhanced the strategic importance of the digital battlespace, increasing the risk of conflict involving the major powers.
RSIS Commentaries, 2024
AI-generated disinformation in the form of deepfakes, comprising digitally manipulated video, aud... more AI-generated disinformation in the form of deepfakes, comprising digitally manipulated video, audio, or images, has hit the headlines in Singapore. Cases from around the world demonstrate that AI-generated deepfakes combined with cyberattacks are not only a threat to the integrity of elections and scam victims but are also a threat to national security and defence.
COMMENTARY
Deepfake videos of Singapore’s political leaders have been circulating since at least last year, when manipulated video and audio impersonating Senior Minister (then Prime Minister) Lee Hsien Loong circulated online, appearing to promote a cryptocurrency scheme in a TV news interview. Similar videos impersonating Prime Minister (then Deputy Prime Minister) Lawrence Wong were also circulated.
This year, more deepfake videos of Senior Minister (SM) Lee have been circulating online, this time showing him commenting on international relations. SM Lee described them as having “malicious intent” and was “dangerous and potentially harmful to our national interests”. To deal with this problem of deepfake videos, the Minister for Digital Development and Information, Ms Josephine Teo, is considering ways to regulate it by proposing a labelling scheme for tools and contents and even discussing a temporary ban to counter such videos, which are anticipated ahead of future Singapore general elections.
Baltic Yearbook of International Law Online
This chapter will argue that while the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has on occ... more This chapter will argue that while the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has on occasion stressed the need and its respect for a rules-based international order, and that international law applies in cyberspace, it has not spelt out how it applies to cyberspace. The ASEAN experience is unique and should be considered separately from other regional organisations. Scholars have tried to compare ASEAN and the European Union (EU) in the hope that the processes of understanding international law and conforming to norms are similar. However, unlike the European Union, where integration on rules and law are advanced and States share a common cultural heritage, a common language and face similar economic and security problems, ASEAN is a unique area where the formation of a regional grouping is based largely on mutual benefit and geography. ASEAN is a pragmatic entity that is not dogmatic on the framing of international law when it perceives a deficit of order in the internati...
Disinformation and Fake News, 2020
Shashi Jayakumar, Benjamin Ang and Nur Diyanah Anwar analyse Singapore’s efforts combating online... more Shashi Jayakumar, Benjamin Ang and Nur Diyanah Anwar analyse Singapore’s efforts combating online falsehoods and disinformation. They highlight the recently passed Protection from Online Falsehoods and Misinformation Act (POFMA) which makes it “an offence to intentionally communicate a false statement of fact, with the knowledge that it would cause the harms listed”, and which uniquely enables the authorities to compel social media platforms to publish rebuttals of specific falsehoods, called “Targeted Corrections Directions”. Additionally, they highlight the non-legal initiatives the Singapore government has taken to counter disinformation and safeguard social cohesion, via programmes such as the National Framework on Information, Media and Cyber Literacy and S.U.R.E. This creates guidelines for public organizations to spot fake news, and fact-checking resources teaching individuals to better judge the reliability of news sources. Their chapter concludes by highlighting the need to review the strategies currently used, and how laws, programmes and policies must be future-proof.
RSIS Commentaries, 2024
Artificial intelligence is increasingly used to power cyber influence operations in geopolitical ... more Artificial intelligence is increasingly used to power cyber influence operations in geopolitical competitions and conflicts, especially after the acceleration of generative AI development in 2022. As such operations could impact the security of countries in Southeast Asia, the ASEAN member states should study them in depth and cooperate
more in information sharing.
COMMENTARY
OpenAI, the organisation that developed the artificial intelligence (AI) tool ChatGPT, announced in August 2024 that it had identified and banned accounts using the tool to generate content for an influence operation targeting the 2024 US presidential campaign. With help from Microsoft’s threat intelligence reports, OpenAI found that this operation was likely to be linked to Iran. The operation used ChatGPT to create socially polarising articles to share on social media and websites.
Similar to how commercially available drone technology has made airpower more attainable by lesser military actors, commercially available generative AI, which is AI capable of generating text, images, videos, or other data using generative models, places more information power in the hands of such actors engaged in conflicts with major cyber powers.
AI is increasingly being applied in cyber influence operations as part of geopolitical competitions or information warfare during armed conflicts. Its utility has enhanced the strategic importance of the digital battlespace, increasing the risk of conflict involving the major powers.
RSIS Commentaries, 2024
AI-generated disinformation in the form of deepfakes, comprising digitally manipulated video, aud... more AI-generated disinformation in the form of deepfakes, comprising digitally manipulated video, audio, or images, has hit the headlines in Singapore. Cases from around the world demonstrate that AI-generated deepfakes combined with cyberattacks are not only a threat to the integrity of elections and scam victims but are also a threat to national security and defence.
COMMENTARY
Deepfake videos of Singapore’s political leaders have been circulating since at least last year, when manipulated video and audio impersonating Senior Minister (then Prime Minister) Lee Hsien Loong circulated online, appearing to promote a cryptocurrency scheme in a TV news interview. Similar videos impersonating Prime Minister (then Deputy Prime Minister) Lawrence Wong were also circulated.
This year, more deepfake videos of Senior Minister (SM) Lee have been circulating online, this time showing him commenting on international relations. SM Lee described them as having “malicious intent” and was “dangerous and potentially harmful to our national interests”. To deal with this problem of deepfake videos, the Minister for Digital Development and Information, Ms Josephine Teo, is considering ways to regulate it by proposing a labelling scheme for tools and contents and even discussing a temporary ban to counter such videos, which are anticipated ahead of future Singapore general elections.
Baltic Yearbook of International Law Online
This chapter will argue that while the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has on occ... more This chapter will argue that while the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has on occasion stressed the need and its respect for a rules-based international order, and that international law applies in cyberspace, it has not spelt out how it applies to cyberspace. The ASEAN experience is unique and should be considered separately from other regional organisations. Scholars have tried to compare ASEAN and the European Union (EU) in the hope that the processes of understanding international law and conforming to norms are similar. However, unlike the European Union, where integration on rules and law are advanced and States share a common cultural heritage, a common language and face similar economic and security problems, ASEAN is a unique area where the formation of a regional grouping is based largely on mutual benefit and geography. ASEAN is a pragmatic entity that is not dogmatic on the framing of international law when it perceives a deficit of order in the internati...
Disinformation and Fake News, 2020
Shashi Jayakumar, Benjamin Ang and Nur Diyanah Anwar analyse Singapore’s efforts combating online... more Shashi Jayakumar, Benjamin Ang and Nur Diyanah Anwar analyse Singapore’s efforts combating online falsehoods and disinformation. They highlight the recently passed Protection from Online Falsehoods and Misinformation Act (POFMA) which makes it “an offence to intentionally communicate a false statement of fact, with the knowledge that it would cause the harms listed”, and which uniquely enables the authorities to compel social media platforms to publish rebuttals of specific falsehoods, called “Targeted Corrections Directions”. Additionally, they highlight the non-legal initiatives the Singapore government has taken to counter disinformation and safeguard social cohesion, via programmes such as the National Framework on Information, Media and Cyber Literacy and S.U.R.E. This creates guidelines for public organizations to spot fake news, and fact-checking resources teaching individuals to better judge the reliability of news sources. Their chapter concludes by highlighting the need to review the strategies currently used, and how laws, programmes and policies must be future-proof.