Generative AI, a new instrument of information warfare in Mali (study)

Generative artificial intelligence is gradually emerging as a new instrument of information warfare in Mali, according to a new study by the Timbuktu Institute, released Wednesday.

The analysis by this Dakar-based think tank suggests that this technology contributes to accelerating the production of propaganda content, amplifying its dissemination, and making it more difficult to distinguish between information, fiction, and disinformation.

Since 2012, Mali has faced a deep security crisis fueled in particular by violence from jihadist groups, their Tuareg separatist allies, and community criminal groups.

This Sahelian country, ruled by a junta, has grown closer to Russia, whose Africa Corps paramilitaries are helping it in its anti-jihadist fight.

"AI is not yet creating new fault lines in Mali, but it is amplifying and accelerating those that already exist, whether they are community-based, ideological, geopolitical, etc.," notes the report, which presents the Malian conflict as a possible "open-air laboratory" for the uses of artificial intelligence in conflicts.

Far from being a uniformly adopted technology, generative AI is mobilized differently depending on the capabilities, resources and objectives of the actors, the study notes.

The Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), affiliated with Al-Qaeda, appears to be the actor whose observable use remains "still limited." Its media arm, Az-Zallaqa, however, disseminated AI-generated posters in June 2026.

The use of AI is more prevalent on networks affiliated with the Azawad Liberation Front (ALF). Several TikTok accounts featuring AI-generated characters, presented as real, disseminate messages favorable to the ALF.

For the Timbuktu Institute, these characters make it possible to artificially "humanize" a cause and to complicate the identification of the true producers of content.

The most sophisticated use is observed in Russia and the Africa Corps. The report notes that Meta and OpenAI identified a Russian operation in 2024 using AI models to produce commentary, articles, and images in English and French for audiences in sub-Saharan Africa.

According to this study, the Africa Corps has the resources and expertise to integrate AI into more structured information operations, combining artificially generated content, fake accounts and dissemination strategies.

The main challenge, the study authors conclude, will be to reduce the gap between the increasing sophistication of artificial intelligence tools and the ability of populations to identify fabricated or manipulated content.