A Discussion: Nuclear Weapons and their future in the new age of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Automated NC2 Systems
Automated command and control infrastructure has been in use for some time, but the advent of complex AI has added the ability to remove the human from the equation, at least in most links of the command and control chain. While it's easy to postulate the numerous roads to accidental or inadvertent escalation, humans and machine both can be ineffective. On the other hand, nations may turn to AI if they sense their second-strike capability is unstable or insecure. AI opens many new doors: unmanned retrievable delivery systems, massive and constant data analysis,
- Do you feel it is appropriate to remove humans from significant portions of the command and control process?
- Do you see AI evening the playing field between nations? Could this lead to more or less stability?
- Stepping into the shoes of a world leader losing a conventional war, you find yourself surrounded by advisors who have informed you that your nation's defense AI models have calculated with a high certainty that the war is lost unless "tactical" nuclear strikes are ordered. What factors would compel your decision to act?
- Is artificial intelligence a net positive or net negative in nuclear command and control?
r/neutronsandbolts is an experimental sub for discussing facets of nuclear war and related subjects. The goal is to apply some 'rules of court' as conversations unfold. I encourage you to form your argument and build upon the thoughts of others. Please use evidence-based information as you can, and objections will be met with a judicial "sustained" or "overruled".
This topic comes from A Stable Nuclear Future? The Impact of Autonomous Systems and Artificial Intelligence by authors Horowitz, Scharre, and Velez-Green. Published December 2019.