Faith-Based Daily Awareness Post 03 August 2023

These updates are shared to help raise the situational awareness of Faith-Based organizations to best defend against, and mitigate the impacts from all-hazards threats including physical security, cybersecurity, and natural disasters.

FAQs: What is Generative AI and How Can It Help Ministry Leaders?

A Church Tech Today article explains the basic concepts of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and how it can help ministry leaders.

“Generative AI refers to a type of artificial intelligence that can generate new content and insights. It utilizes machine learning and natural language processing to analyze large datasets, identify patterns, and produce original text, images, audio, video, and more. Generative AI models like ChatGPT are trained on massive amounts of data from the internet, books, and other sources to learn how to respond to prompts with high-quality outputs.”

The article provides examples of current AI uses, practical applications for ministry leaders, and limits of use. The article also argues that AI is unlikely to replace ministry leaders and offers potential ways to start benefiting from generative AI.

Analyst Comment:

Generative AI is a tool that the faith-based community should understand and consider using. Reading the above article would be a good start to evaluating its usefulness, but before using AI, the risks of AI should be fully appreciated.

The risks associated with generative AI are significant and rapidly evolving. The risks are present for those creating material with AI and those receiving AI material.

A wide array of threat actors have already used the technology to create “deep fakes” or copies of products, and generate artifacts to support increasingly complex scams.

Gartner provides additional information and further explains the risks of AI.

Below are articles on an incident related to the synagogue “swatting incidents” highlighted in Friday and Monday’s Daily Awareness Post 

Report of Shooter Panics Capitol Hill, but Police Find Nothing

After an urgent search on a quiet day at the Capitol, the police said the threat report might have been a “bogus call.”

The Senate went into a shelter-in-place and partial evacuation following reports of an possible active shooter on the Capitol campus.

The Senate went into lockdown Wednesday afternoon following reports of an active shooter on the Capitol campus, sparked by “a concerning 911 call,” according to Capitol Police. 

Details: Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger said that officers were able to respond “in seconds” after receiving a 911 call at 2:30 p.m. saying there was an active shooter. But in the end, there was no confirmation that an active shooter was on campus. 

“This may have been a bogus call,” Manger said.

The USCP Remains Vigilant Following False Active Shooter Report

Analyst Comment:

It is impossible for Faith-Based Organizations (FBO) to have the type of protective measures and security protocols at the US Capitol complex, but the persistent, heightened threat environment indicates that FBOs should plan and prepare for all potential contingencies.

A valuable resource for protecting FBO facilities is CISA’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency: Security of Soft Targets and Crowded Places-Resources Guide.