Paul Goldsmith seeks advice on protection of electoral systems from growing AI threat

The government is seeking advice from officials on protecting electoral systems, as the threat from advanced artificial intelligence grows.

The country's cyber watchdog - the National Cyber Security Centre - joined Five Eyes partner security agencies recently in warning organisations the overall threat is real and immediate.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said the country had established mechanisms for identifying and responding to risks to elections.

"The focus is on ensuring those arrangements continue to be effective and responsive to the evolving threat environment.

"I have requested advice of officials and expect to receive it soon," he said. "However, I would always expect agencies to be actively considering their stewardship responsibilities to identify changes in the environment."

The Electoral Commission earlier said its security practices took frontier AI into account, but also that it was considering "the implications of this newly identified threat on our system's readiness".

Goldsmith said he could not direct the commission on how it operated.

"Protecting the integrity and security of New Zealand's elections is a longstanding priority," he added.

"Relevant agencies taking a stewardship approach work together to continually assess and respond to evolving risks, including those associated with emerging technologies such as AI.

"Processes, systems and inter-agency arrangements are in place to identify, monitor and respond to threats to elections, and those arrangements continue to evolve, as the threat environment changes."

Canada has a taskforce especially to protect elections including from cyber threats. Set up in 2019, the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) taskforce co-ordinates with the country's spy agencies, runs briefings to raise awareness of evolving threats and provides targeted support to operational systems.

RNZ asked if Goldsmith had considered if New Zealand needed something like the taskforce, but he did not address that.