Encrypting AI and quantum for maximum mass event security
CQUniversity researchers are innovating to secure and streamline Brisbane 2032 communication systems, with a Queensland Government grant to merge quantum mechanics and artificial intelligence (AI) to make major events hack-proof.
The project, AI-Quantum Nexus: Revolutionising Group Communication for Large Sports Events, has received $999,933 from the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation, as part of the Quantum 2032 Challenge.
This funding aims to accelerate the development of quantum and advanced technologies, and to promote quantum-based innovations to support the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
CQUniversity’s project is led by Professor Hong Shen, with Dr Steven Gordon and Dr Fariza Sabrina, both academics with CQUniversity’s Centre for Machine Learning – Networking and Education Technology in the School of Engineering and Technology, and Professor Fabio Serpiello, Director of Sport Strategy in CQU’s School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences.
They’ll work with three academics from Griffith University, and partner organisation Table Tennis Australia, across the three-year project.
Prof Shen explained that major global sporting events like Olympics and Paralympics were an obvious target for hackers and crime organisations, but quantum communications offered a new level of security.
“We want to utilise quantum key distribution, or QKD, that allows messages to be securely shared via a randomly-generated secret key, or cryptographic protocol,” he explained.
The project will investigate using QKD for mass message distribution, with a layer of AI to filter different information to different audiences.
For instance, QKD could mean an emergency message reaches millions of Brisbane 2032 attendees, competitors and staff at the push of a single button – while AI simultaneously personalises the message that individual recipients receive, based on their level of security clearance, location, or other relevant considerations.
“Use of QKD to this point has also been in stages, distributing the key then sending the secured data – but that is inefficient,” Prof Shen explained.
“Our research will look to revolutionise that process, by sending the key and the data simultaneously.”
CQUniversity is one of just five institutions sharing the $8.5 million distributed for Quantum 2032 Challenge projects.
Learn more about CQU’s Centre for Machine Learning – Networking and Education Technology.
