Russia’s top investigator calls for making AI use an aggravating factor for crimes

Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia's Investigative Committee, has proposed that crimes committed with the help of artificial intelligence be treated as an aggravating circumstance under Russian law. A draft bill to that effect has already been drawn up.

In an interview with the state news agency Interfax, Bastrykin said AI can be used to facilitate murder, incitement to suicide, sexual offences, terrorism and extremism, among other crimes. Adding such an aggravating factor to the Criminal Code, he said, “would seem to be the correct decision”.

Bastrykin noted that the proposal is not meant to increase penalties for every crime that happens to involve the internet or digital technology. Rather, he said, the new provision would apply specifically in cases where technology allowed the perpetrator to inflict greater harm.

Russia already added VPN use to its list of aggravating factors last year, and the first criminal cases invoking that provision began appearing this spring.