Key points
- Modern transformers introduce prompt injection, where models execute instructions hidden within input data.
- The Lobsters report states that humans have always been vulnerable to interpreting unsanitized input as legitimate commands.
- Attackers exploit human motivations and assumptions, a tactic the source compares to LLM security weaknesses.
A recent discussion on Lobsters argues that security issues in artificial intelligence are fundamentally identical to social engineering issues affecting humans. The report claims that prompt injection in large language models is a digital reflection of how attackers manipulate people, despite being a new technical weakness.The report claims that AI security problems are actually the same as social engineering tricks used on people.The Lobsters post argues that prompt injection in transformers is functionally equivalent to social engineering exploits targeting human cognitive biases.
The evidence
The author, who worked at the Electronic Frontier Foundation in the 2010s, references the late Peter Eckersley. Eckersley predicted that near-superintelligent AI systems would eventually discover and exploit security flaws across entire ecosystems. According to the source material, The post notes that this prediction has come true, describing the current period as day 42 of the Black October, a wave of AI-discovered security flaws.reported
The decision
The report states that modern transformers have introduced an entirely new class of security weakness called prompt injection. Because large language models follow instructions found in content, attackers can sneak directives into inputs. These instructions can range from benign requests, such as talking like a pirate, to malicious commands asking for sensitive data like social security numbers.
What to make of it
The author states that smuggling instructions into inputs is an old problem. Humans represent a vulnerable class of system that malicious outsiders can consistently trick. Attackers exploit human motivations, assumptions and flaws to get people to perform actions they did not intend. This mirrors how LLMs process unsanitized input.
In practice
The source notes that hackers exploit human motivations and assumptions to get them to do things they did not intend. They play a recording of a screaming baby in the background of support calls to exploit a tech’s empathy and sense of urgency. They adopt the persona of a senior manager from another part of the company to provoke deference in a person employed to guard a room.
Why it matters
- The source claims that prompt injection allows attackers to smuggle instructions into LLM inputs, potentially extracting sensitive data.
- The report states that humans are historically vulnerable to interpreting unsanitized input as legitimate instructions, mirroring AI flaws.
- The author notes that attackers exploit human motivations and assumptions, suggesting AI vulnerabilities are behavioural rather than purely technical.
- The post mentions that modern transformers have introduced this new class of security weakness alongside pre-existing digital architecture flaws.
Topics: AI security, social engineering, prompt injection, Lobsters, Peter Eckersley
Updated
The strongest doubt
Counterpoint from the sources
The author expresses optimism that the current period of tribulation will result in a safer network and fixed bugs, but this is stated as a hope rather than a confirmed outcome.
For readers
Developers
- The source notes that LLMs follow instructions in content, so unsanitized input can be interpreted as legitimate commands.
Business
- Attackers use tactics like adopting senior manager personas to provoke deference, which mirrors how AI might be manipulated.
Researchers
- Peter Eckersley predicted that near-superintelligent AIs would exploit security flaws, a prediction the report says has come true.
Ask the article
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Your choice stays on this device. No public tally.Terms in this story
Prompt injection
A technique where attackers sneak instructions into the inputs of a large language model to make it obey them.
Social engineering
Exploiting human motivations, assumptions and flaws to get people to do things they did not intend.
Transformers
Modern AI architectures that have introduced the security weakness of prompt injection.
Questions readers ask
What is prompt injection?
Prompt injection is a weakness where large language models execute instructions that attackers have hidden within the input content provided to the system.
How does the source compare AI flaws to human vulnerabilities?
The report states that humans are a vulnerable class of system that can be tricked into interpreting unsanitized input as legitimate instructions, similar to LLMs.
What prediction did Peter Eckersley make?
Eckersley predicted that future near-superintelligent AIs would be used to discover and exploit security flaws across the entire ecosystem.
Connected stories
Reading receipt
- Modern transformers introduce prompt injection, where models execute instructions hidden within input data.
- The Lobsters report states that humans have always been vulnerable to interpreting unsanitized input as legitimate commands.
- Attackers exploit human motivations and assumptions, a tactic the source compares to LLM security weaknesses.