Infrastructure as an Emergent Behavior-Shaping System in Networked Physical AI

#AI #ML #security #PhysicalAI #RiskManagement #trust #BehavioralEffects #networks #telecom #communications #futurenetworks #ieee

Special Presentation by Robert Rittich (Counter Measures Security, USA)

Hosted by the Future Networks Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (AI/ML) Working Group

Date/Time: Thursday, 5 March 2026 @ 6 PM Eastern Time (3 PM Pacific Time)

Topic:

Infrastructure as an Emergent Behavior-Shaping System in Networked Physical AI

Abstract:

Modern security thinking around AI and networking often treats infrastructure as neutral plumbing: systems designed to transport data, coordinate services, and optimize performance. In practice, however, infrastructure exhibits emergent behavior. As trusted systems scale, they shape how humans and machines interact, what is considered normal operation, and which actions are taken without reflection—often before adversarial use becomes visible.

This talk examines how implicit trust in networked infrastructure creates unexamined attack surface as an emergent property of technical design choices. Drawing on real-world examples — from browser push notification ecosystems to industrial control systems and emerging physical AI platforms — the presentation shows how infrastructure originally designed for benign environments establishes habits, incentives, and coordination patterns that later prove difficult to unwind.

As AI systems become embodied, mobile, and collaborative — operating through proximity-based communication, device swarms, and delegated decision-making — the behavioral effects of infrastructure become more pronounced. Rather than predicting specific threats or proposing controls, this talk applies a risk manager’s lens to surface recurring architectural patterns: where trust migrates into systems by default, where behavior adapts faster than threat models, and where networking decisions amplify downstream consequences once physical systems are involved.

Speaker:

Robert Rittich is an independent technology consultant and researcher focused on the intersection of networking, artificial intelligence, and system-level risk. He is the founder of Counter Measures Security LLC and holds an MS in Cybersecurity, along with CISSP, CEH, and CHPS certifications. While his background is rooted in offensive and defensive security practice, Robert’s current work examines how emerging AI-driven systems — spanning robotics, autonomous platforms, wearables, and human augmentation — operate in real-world environments and at scale. His perspective is informed by hands-on experience assessing how systems behave when optimized for performance, efficiency, and low friction. Rather than approaching these challenges from a narrowly defined security role, his work emphasizes architectural thinking and cross-domain awareness, informed by how complex systems evolve once they are deployed and interconnected.

Brochure (PDF): Webinar-AIML-2026-03-05-Rittich-InfraBehaviorPhysicalAI-Brochure.pdf