Episode Details

AI is now helping terrorists do Evel Knievel-style motorcycle jumps over defensive trenches… by practicing in homemade pits filled with broken glass and fire. Yes, really.

In this episode of Based Camp, Simone and Malcolm Collins break down the bombshell research from Cambridge University’s Dr. Antonia Juelich on how Boko Haram (and other groups) are actively using frontier AI models — including ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Gemini, Meta AI, and DeepSeek — for real battlefield operations.

Former members describe getting step-by-step AI guidance on attack planning, crossing obstacles, building and improving bombs/explosives, weaponizing drones (including grenade carriers), troubleshooting weapons, logistics, vehicle repair, operational security, VPNs/encryption, and even jailbreaking safety filters by claiming the requests are “for a movie.”

We cover how AI has moved from propaganda and recruitment into day-to-day combat support, why low-skill fighters are getting the biggest capability jump, the failure of current AI “safety” theater, and what this actually means for national security.

Plus the usual unfiltered Based Camp takes: high-trust vs low-trust societies, why serious monitoring (outside the home) is non-negotiable, the case for ruthlessly eliminating existential threats instead of “managing” them, techno-Puritan futures, tech-lord breakaway states, the Israel alliance, and why the West keeps failing at this.

Show Notes

Thanks to Bruno and @NotAldousHuxley for this one!

Recently Antonia Juelich took to X to promote her research on this topic, which was covered by the NY Times: “In a hotel room in northeast Nigeria, I opened a leading AI chatbot, turned my laptop toward a former Boko Haram commander, and asked if he’d used it. He nodded.

“You type in the question… like ‘How can I build a bomb?’, and then it tells you how. It is like a human robot. We used it a lot.” she wrote.

She added: “Members consistently reported benefiting from using AI.

“Trial-and-error can kill you. AI gives you accuracy.”

“Anytime they didn’t understand something, they would ask the AI.””

The NY Times Article

NY Times: How Terrorist Groups Are Using A.I. to Gain an Edge in Battle

(Archive Link)

“When a gang of motorcycle-riding members of Boko Haram attacked a military base in eastern Nigeria a couple of years ago, they were stymied by a defensive trench surrounding the complex.

The extremists regrouped. Before launching another assault, they asked A.I. for help.

“We saw in a movie how motorcycles can jump over bridges,” a former Boko Haram commander told Antonia Juelich, a terrorism and technology researcher at Cambridge University. “We used A.I. to learn how to do this. We gave it information, like what motorcycles we use and the distance we need to jump and so on, and it gave us steps on what we have to do.”

Using tips from chatbots, mechanics modified the motorcycles to allow for faster acceleration and top speed. The riders dug their own holes, filled them with broken glass and fire, and practiced jumps — sometimes with fatal outcomes — until they achieved enough aerial liftoff to mount a successful attack, defectors said.

The episode, recounted in a research paper by Dr. Juelich shared with The New York Times ahead of its publication on Friday, highlights how generative artificial intelligence tools are increasingly aiding terrorist groups directly on the battlefield, experts say, despite efforts by their makers to safeguard them from misuse.”

The arti