AI Has Not Democratized Cybercrime, University of Edinburgh Research Finds

Analysis of 97,895 forum conversations since ChatGPT's 2022 launch shows low-level cybercriminals shifting from enthusiasm to skepticism about AI tools. Coding assistants benefit skilled operators but haven't enabled newcomers to execute sophisticated attacks. Criminal organizations still require human expertise and oversight. The democratization prediction underestimated adoption friction within criminal ecosystems—a pattern seen repeatedly in technology's history.