Generative Artificial Intelligence (GEN AI) ISR, Mission Planning, and IED Creation by Active Shooters and Extremists in the United States and Canada: Indications & Warning (I&W)

C/O Futures Terrorism Research Note Series

C/O Futures AI Initiatives

Robert J. Bunker, Kaden K. Bunker, and Pamela Ligouri Bunker

30 August 2026

From early 2025 into mid-2026, an initial sequence of active shooter and extremist attacks and plots have taken place with the United States and Canada which have utilized generative artificial intelligence (GEN AI) to enhance their lethality potentials. GEN AI has been used to facilitate improvised explosive device (IED) construction; for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); for guidance on how to properly utilize small arms; and for mission planning purposes in support of an attack. The use of GEN AI for nefarious purposes has been better recognized pertaining to terrorist groups as it relates to Islamic State operational components in Afghanistan-Pakistan, the Middle East, and in Western Africa—and to a lesser extent Al Qaeda whose use has been more experimental in nature.[1] GEN AI usage is also now appearing in support of basic criminality connected to bank robbery, arson, and premeditated homicide planning. The projection is that GEN AI (and later agentic AI) utilization will become increasingly more common in North American future active shooter and extremist incidents and plots given the indications and warning (I&W) now evident.

GEN AI Use Active Shooters & Extremist in US Canada.pdf

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