Bring on the AI swarms. They’re the only thing that can defend us now that AI is free
Frontier-level AI runs everywhere, so attacks will never stop
AI swarms are the only defense against the free and powerful language models now accessible to millions of devices, according to recent developments. In mid-August, Alibaba released Qwen3.8-27B, a language model powerful enough to run on a high-spec laptop, sparking a wave of enthusiasm among "local AI" enthusiasts. These developers have since managed to adapt Qwen to run on a wide range of devices, including Apple's M4 MacBook Air.
As these enthusiasts continue refining Qwen, millions of smartphones will soon have the capability to run top-tier AI.
The sudden availability of "good enough" AI at no cost is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it offers users a growing "cognition surplus," enabling tasks such as accounting, photo organization, and creating personalized media. On the other hand, it puts powerful AI into the hands of bad actors, who can exploit it for malicious purposes. The community of developers aims to counter this threat by developing defensive techniques that leverage the ever-growing presence of AI.
Written by urgent.news from The Register Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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