North Korea now using AI in nuclear program: report

A new report that analyzed North Korea's AI use found the nation has been developing the technology across industries and is exploring AI-driven military tech.

"North Korea’s recent endeavors in AI/[machine learning] development signify a strategic investment to bolster its digital economy," Hyuk Kim, of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California, wrote in the Jan. 23 report, which cited open-source information from state media and scientific journals. "This commitment is underscored by constitutional amendments fostering the digitization and informatization of its socialist economy, coupled with institutional reforms to address competing self-interest across government offices."  Megan Myers is an associate producer/writer with Fox News Digital Originals. 

The East Asian nation has been developing AI across industries since the 1990s but ramped up advancements beginning in 2013 when it created the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute to promote informatization — integrating technologies into a social system — and digitalization of the country, according to the report. In April 2019, the country amended its constitution to add "informatization" to its core economic efforts.