00:00A new study says generative AI is becoming a tool in Mali's information war.
00:07The Timbuktu Institute, a Dakar-based think tank, says armed factions are now using the technology to amplify existing divisions
00:15in the country.
00:16Mali has faced a security crisis since 2012, driven by jihadist violence, criminal gangs and separatist fighters.
00:24The report says the Al-Qaeda link, JINIM, and the two other separatists, FLA, have both stepped up attacks in
00:31recent months against the military junta.
00:34It also says Russia's Africa Corp, which is supporting Mali's rulers, is making the most sophisticated use of AI, combining
00:42fake accounts, AI content, and wider dissemination tactics.
00:46The Institute says AI is now being used in different ways depending on each group's resources and goals, with some
00:53online campaign designed to appear more human and harder to trace.
00:57The Sahelian nation has been wrecked since 2012 by a serious security crisis, notably fueled by violence from jihadists along
01:05with criminal gangs and armed separatists.
