Europol issued a stark warning on Tuesday, revealing that artificial intelligence (AI) was significantly boosting organised crime, from generating child sexual abuse images to facilitating money laundering through cryptocurrency.
The European police organisation cautioned that the situation would worsen with the advancements in technologies such as quantum computing.
Catherine De Bolle, Executive Director of Europol, described the report as a "wake-up call" for law enforcement, addressing senior officers from across Europe. She stressed that "the future of European security is in our hands." De Bolle added, "This is a fight of the rule of law, for our communities, for our businesses, and for the future of our children. We will not let organised crime dictate the rules of the game."
In its detailed 80-page "threat assessment" report, Europol highlighted how criminals had exploited AI to act as a "catalyst" in accelerating their illicit operations. "Rapid technological advancements — especially in artificial intelligence (AI) — are reshaping how crime is organised, executed, and concealed," the report read. "These shifts are making organised crime more dangerous, posing an unprecedented challenge to security across the EU and its member states."
Europol pointed out that AI and other technologies were facilitating criminal activity across the full spectrum of organised crime, including drug and human trafficking, cybercrime, and identity theft. Generative AI, in particular, was enabling criminal gangs to expand their reach across multiple languages and generate explicit child abuse images. "Explicit pictures of adults can be manipulated to make the individual look younger or applications can 'nudify' non-explicit images," the report warned.
"The very qualities that make AI revolutionary — accessibility, versatility, and sophistication — have made it an attractive tool for criminals," Europol remarked.
Moreover, the rapid development of technology was making it increasingly difficult for authorities to recover the proceeds of crime. Europol noted that confiscation of criminal assets had stagnated at around two percent, with the challenge further worsened by the exploitation of digital assets. Criminals were using cryptocurrency to launder money and move funds, making it difficult to trace and seize illicit earnings. "The criminal exploitation of cryptocurrency as a payment method now has moved beyond the scope of cybercrime, and is encountered increasingly in more traditional crime areas such as drug trafficking or migrant smuggling."
Europol further cautioned that as technological advancements continued, the boost to criminal activity would likely intensify. The report pointed to the rapid development of quantum computing, the metaverse, 6G, unmanned systems, and brain-computer interfaces, warning that the speed, anonymity, and sophistication of criminal networks would likely increase in the coming years.
Quantum computing, in particular, was identified as a key threat, with the potential to easily crack current encryption technologies. Europol also raised concerns over the possibility of criminal gangs being run entirely by AI in the future. "The emergence of fully autonomous AI could pave the way for entirely AI-controlled criminal networks, marking a new era in organised crime," the report concluded.
