# Thorny Roses: Investigating the Dual Use Dilemma in Natural Language Processing

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.08315 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.08315/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 15 of its 61 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 17 Apr 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 15 of 15)

- [Model Cards for Model Reporting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.03993/) (2018)
- [Ethical and social risks of harm from Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.04359/) (2021)
- [Generative Language Models and Automated Influence Operations: Emerging Threats and Potential Mitigations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.04246/) (2023)
- [Getting Gender Right in Neural Machine Translation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.05088/) (2019)
- [The Gradient of Generative AI Release: Methods and Considerations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.04844/) (2023)
- [Self-Destructing Models: Increasing the Costs of Harmful Dual Uses of Foundation Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.14946/) (2022)
- [Just What do You Think You're Doing, Dave?' A Checklist for Responsible Data Use in NLP](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.06598/) (2021)
- [Dislocated Accountabilities in the AI Supply Chain: Modularity and Developers' Notions of Responsibility](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.09780/) (2022)
- [What Do NLP Researchers Believe? Results of the NLP Community Metasurvey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.12852/) (2022)
- [Give Me Convenience and Give Her Death: Who Should Decide What Uses of NLP are Appropriate, and on What Basis?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.13213/) (2020)
- [Preregistering NLP Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.06944/) (2021)
- [Ethics Sheets for AI Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.01183/) (2021)
- [ESR: Ethics and Society Review of Artificial Intelligence Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.11521/) (2021)
- [A Two-Sided Discussion of Preregistration of NLP Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.10086/) (2023)
- [Whose Tweets are Surveilled for the Police: An Audit of Social-Media Monitoring Tool via Log Files](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.08777/) (2020)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Graph of Attacks: Improved Black-Box and Interpretable Jailbreaks for LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.19019/) (2025)
- [Dual use issues in the field of Natural Language Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.06636/) (2025)
- [The Weaponization of Computer Vision: Tracing Military-Surveillance Ties through Conference Sponsorship](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.07803/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Dual use, the intentional, harmful reuse of technology and scientific artefacts, is a problem yet to be well-defined within the context of Natural Language Processing (NLP). However, as NLP technologies continue to advance and become increasingly widespread in society, their inner workings have become increasingly opaque. Therefore, understanding dual use concerns and potential ways of limiting them is critical to minimising the potential harms of research and development. In this paper, we conduct a survey of NLP researchers and practitioners to understand the depth and their perspective of the problem as well as to assess existing available support. Based on the results of our survey, we offer a definition of dual use that is tailored to the needs of the NLP community. The survey revealed that a majority of researchers are concerned about the potential dual use of their research but only take limited action toward it. In light of the survey results, we discuss the current state and potential means for mitigating dual use in NLP and propose a checklist that can be integrated into existing conference ethics-frameworks, e.g., the ACL ethics checklist.