A Sydney teenager who reportedly admitted to planning a terrorist attack in Sydney in 2024 was sentenced to a three-year Community Corrections Order by the NSW Supreme Court on Monday. The 16-year-old has claimed that he was radicalised online and used artificial intelligence (AI) for his plans, The Guardian reported.
An investigation was launched in mid-2024, according to an official statement. The probe by the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT), comprising the Australian Federal Police, NSW Police Force, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and the NSW Crime Commission, found that between June 30 and August 7, 2024, the youth carried out preparatory acts for a terrorist act by researching target locations and attack methodologies. The youth had just turned 14 when the offences took place in 2024, and he told the court that he was first exposed to the extremist content on TikTok, according to The Guardian.
The teenager, known under the pseudonym ‘RK’ due to his age, pleaded guilty but escaped prison as the court sentenced him to a three-year Community Corrections Order in a ruling on Monday for acts in preparation for, or planning a terrorist act, according to local authorities.
However, concerns associated with AI, including algorithmic bias and a lack of transparency in the working, remain equally relevant to generative AI, according to UNICEF’s earlier report on ‘Generative AI: Risks and opportunities for children.’
