You’ve heard the reports of rogue AI agents going after websites and corporate systems. But they also may turn to smaller targets: your smart home network.
In a new report published Monday, Anthropic warned of “AI worms” that may soon be able to break into your WiFi enabled TVs, cameras, and other devices, and use them as a breeding ground as they self-replicate and spread elsewhere. Anthropic, no stranger to dramatic and doomy proclamations, said that this threat might be mere months away, if AI models continue to improve at their current rate.
“We expect a future awash with agents running on all types of hardware, including some that aren’t under human control,” the report predicts.
Worms are forms of malware that can replicate themselves and spread to other machines by scanning for other devices on the same network. Rogue AI agents may soon possess this capability, and the Anthropic researchers are particularly interested in how they may proliferate on more everyday pieces of hardware. Many households could be ripe for the taking, with the rise in the “internet of things” devices that are hooked up to a home network, like your smart TV, fridge, lights, robovacuum, security cameras, and even toilets.
