The China Mail - From bombmaking to motorcycle tweaks: how Nigerian jihadists use AI

Africa's most populous country has been entrenched in an insurgency since 2009, and technological advancements by militants are not new.

Jihadists in west Africa and worldwide have long spread propaganda with the aid of the internet and online messaging platforms -- and more recently adapted recreational drones for combat.

But "AI adoption by terrorist groups has been much faster, more extensive and more systematic than we thought," Antonia Juelich, the author of the study, said in an interview with AFP on Monday.

"It's not just some individual commanders who became aware of AI, but they have really institutionalised it, in terms of having dedicated units" working with AI and organising training on how to use chatbots, she added.

Juelich, a researcher affiliated with Cambridge University, published her study on AI adaptation by Nigerian jihadists last week, based on interviews with ex-militants from both Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and rival Jama'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihad (JAS) -- better known as Boko Haram.

Foreign trainers "assembled the top people in a room. They used a projector to show how it works on a big screen," one former ISWAP militant told Juelich.

While the internet -- along with foreign and homegrown expertise from battle-hardened commanders -- has long been an aide to jihadists, "the step by-step-instructions" provided by chatbots as well as "being able to ask specific questions" represent something novel, Juelich told AFP.

ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Meta AI and DeepSeek were all recorded as being used by the militants, the study noted.

- 'AI told us' -

If the expert-led trainings and top-down organisational focus on AI is similar to some business practices, however, the way jihadists use AI is probably different -- from seeking help with Evel Knievel-style motorcycle modifications to learning about new and unfamiliar weapons seized in combat.

When confronted with trench defences dug by the military, "We saw in a movie how motorcycles can jump over bridges. We used AI to learn how to do this," an ex-ISWAP member was quoted in the study as saying.

After repeated practice, "the next time we attacked, we could jump".

In bombmaking, chatbots have introduced new types of explosive devices and also helped improve existing ones.

"AI told us what chemicals to put in that made the explosion heavier," a former JAS commander said.

Other uses included using AI to study battlefield tactics that could lead to reduced casualties, an ex-ISWAP militant said.

The research comes as AI bosses have warned their technology could pose existential risks for humanity while also promising safeguards embedded in their chatbots.

Some requests, like how to jump a motorcycle over a trench, are not necessarily nefarious in nature.

"But explosives don't fall into that category and that's where safeguards should kick in, and they haven't," Juelich told AFP.

The study covered jihadists' use of AI from 2023 through 2024, with one militant able to speak on AI use as recently as 2025 -- meaning safeguards could have changed or improved since the fighters defected.

"But I'm worried about the trajectory, where terrorist groups embrace AI and the safeguards are not strong enough," Juelich said.

F.Brown--ThChM