A new study by the University of Cambridge has revealed that Boko Haram and its splinter faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), have incorporated frontier artificial intelligence tools into their operations, using chatbots to improve weapons handling, explosives development and drone deployment.
The findings, published by the university’s Programme on AI Science & Policy, are based on field research conducted across 2025 and 2026, including interviews with 27 former members of Boko Haram and ISWAP in Borno and Adamawa states.
According to the report, both groups established dedicated AI units staffed by bomb makers, engineers and weapons specialists responsible for managing chatbot access, training members and responding to operational requests from commanders.
Researchers found that access to AI tools was tightly controlled and generally limited to senior commanders, while foreign operatives reportedly trained members on how to use chatbots and bypass built-in safety restrictions.
Former fighters told researchers they used AI chatbots to understand unfamiliar weapons, improve explosive designs, calculate payloads for weaponised drones and modify motorcycles for combat operations.
The report stated that insurgents sometimes disguised dangerous prompts by framing them as requests for movie scripts or fictional scenarios to evade AI safety filters, and also testing the same queries across multiple chatbot platforms until they received usable responses.
Although companies behind major AI models, including OpenAI, Google and Anthropic, prohibit such activities, the study suggests determined users were still able to obtain operational guidance.
The Cambridge researchers cautioned against attributing Boko Haram’s recent resurgence solely to artificial intelligence, stating that security experts also point to decentralised command structures, increased foreign fighter support, improved logistics and reduced internal conflict among insurgent factions.
However, the report argues that AI may have become an additional force multiplier, helping insurgents solve technical problems more quickly and adapt new tactics on the battlefield.
The researchers urged AI developers to work more closely with security experts and counterterrorism specialists to strengthen safety testing against misuse by armed groups.
They also recommended that governments treat AI capabilities as part of modern counterinsurgency planning, alongside intelligence gathering, weapons interdiction and efforts to disrupt insurgent logistics networks.
