Herself’s Artificial Intelligence

There was a time not so long ago when superpowers went to war in small nations like Korea and Vietnam as a way to test each other and do a bit of chest beating. Times change and since the US is the only current superpower, we’ve shifted to superpower vs terrorists.  Now thanks to the internet, battles can be done in virtual worlds.

U.S. intelligence officials are cautioning that popular Internet services that enable computer users to adopt cartoon-like personas in three-dimensional online spaces also are creating security vulnerabilities by opening novel ways for terrorists and criminals to move money, organize and conduct corporate espionage.

Over the last few years, “virtual worlds” such as Second Life and other role-playing games have become home to millions of computer-generated personas known as avatars. By directing their avatars, people can take on alternate personalities, socialize, explore and earn and spend money across uncharted online landscapes.

Nascent economies have sprung to life in these 3-D worlds, complete with currency, banks and shopping malls. Corporations and government agencies have opened animated virtual offices, and a growing number of organizations hold meetings where avatars gather and converse in newly minted conference centers.

Intelligence officials who have examined these systems say they’re convinced that the qualities that many computer users find so attractive about virtual worlds — including anonymity, global access and the expanded ability to make financial transfers outside normal channels — have turned them into seedbeds for transnational threats.

“The virtual world is the next great frontier and in some respects is still very much a Wild West environment,” a recent paper by the government’s new Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity said. . . [ read more Spies' battleground turns virtual ]

The EFF has a different take on the issue, seeing instead a government that has perhaps been watching too many science fiction movies.

But if it keeps the government entertained saving virtual citizens and businesses and out of our hair in the real world perhaps that isn’t such a bad thing?

And who had heard of IARPA before?

More information:
US warns of Second Life Terrorist Threat