In an age of interceptions, the CIA champions spies

Intelligence gathering today relies on electronic monitoring of calls and text messages and high-resolution satellite imagery. But in his new podcastthe CIA argues that even in the age of artificial intelligence and ubiquitous intercepts, human sources are more important than ever.

Only with a human source can intelligence officers properly understand the intercepts and the context of an overheard conversation, CIA spy chief Tom Sylvester said in the podcast, which the agency released Wednesday.

Deputy Director of Operations, the formal title of the person responsible for espionage, often remains – at least partially – in the shadows. So Mr. Sylvester’s appearance on the podcast is unusual. To stay in character, the hosts only call him Tom on the show.

Mr. Sylvester took over and replaced him last summer David Marlowe, who got the job at the start of the Biden administration but recently retired.

The agency does not regularly allow its senior officials to be interviewed by journalists. And so the podcast, which offers about a half-dozen episodes per season, offers something of a unique — if controlled — look at a key part of the CIA’s operations.

In recent months, the CIA has been unusually candid with a secretive spy agency about its recruitment efforts and the importance of its work. The push comes as the public has become more familiar with the power of satellite images and intercepted communications to give the White House and Pentagon unique insight into what Russia, China and other adversaries are up to.

The CIA has used its internal podcasts, called ‘The Langley Files’, to interview the director, William J. Burns, and reveal secrets of previous operations. The new episode directly addresses the issue at the heart of the CIA’s mission: the importance of recruiting foreign spies.

The proliferation of cyber intelligence, along with extensive satellite imagery, has raised questions about whether human sources are still important, according to Mr. Sylvester. But he argued that analytical assessments of intelligence based on intercepts alone are weaker than when human resources help the CIA understand the “plans and intentions” of hostile powers.

After one of the CIA presenters, Dee Watson, asked if human sources are still important, the other, Walter Trosin, asked if “with all the technological advances of the 21st century, there are still essentially some secrets that only exist in people’s minds. ”

Mr. Sylvester responded that some of the most important secrets the agency strives for “lie in plans and intentions, the mood, the context in which someone makes a decision.” Reading a transcript without a spy to describe that context could lead to confusion, he said.

“If you have ten different people listening to the same conversation, they will come to ten different analytical assessments of what happened, compared to if you were actually talking to someone who was in a room,” Mr. Sylvester said.

Meeting and developing spies is more difficult than ever for the CIA’s network of case officers stationed around the world, he said. Surveillance cameras powered by artificial intelligence that can perform rapid facial recognition are now allowing enemy countries to keep tabs on CIA operatives.

But the crackdown on dissent by dictatorships has also given the organization new opportunities.

In the interview, the deputy director said that people frustrated about the direction of their country are offering to provide information.

“They believe they are doing something bigger and greater than themselves, and that they are willing to provide us with the information that is so crucial to helping policymakers make the right decisions in the world,” Mr. Sylvester said.

Former intelligence officers say ideology may be the most important motivation for the best spies. But some sources provide secrets for financial rewards; others because they are angry about the way corruption has affected their country and their careers, causing them to be passed over for promotion.

Current and former officials argue that corruption in modern Russia, the government’s crackdown on dissent and anger over the invasion of Ukraine have created opportunities for the CIA to recruit new sources.

Over the past nine months, the agency has released a series Russian-language videos on YouTube and Telegram, calling on Russian officials frustrated with President Vladimir V. Putin’s rule to securely provide information to the agency through secure channels on the dark web.

“The tyranny of autocrats to control everything has been placed in such a way that we have to be creative and very consciously create opportunities for people to volunteer for us,” Mr. Sylvester said.

The videos, officials say, have helped the agency grow its spy network and human intelligence collection. In the podcast, the deputy said the videos had reached disgruntled Russians who were depressed about the direction of their country and wondered what they could do about it.

“That brutal invasion of Ukraine and the hundreds of thousands of casualties have horrified many of the individuals in Russia with whom we wish to engage,” Mr. Sylvester said.