The Pentagon wants AI to enhance the capabilities of US nuclear weapons systems

A basking potato: The US is 1 of respective countries that antecedently declared it would ever support power of atomic weapons successful nan hands of humans, not AI. But nan Pentagon isn't averse to utilizing artificial intelligence to "enhance" atomic command, control, and communications systems, worryingly.

Late past month, US Strategic Command leader Air Force Gen. Anthony J. Cotton said nan bid was "exploring each imaginable technologies, techniques, and methods to assistance pinch nan modernization of our NC3 capabilities."

Several AI-controlled subject limb systems and vehicles person been developed successful nan past fewer years, including combatant jets, drones, and instrumentality guns. Their usage connected nan battlefield raises concerns, truthful nan imaginable of AI, which still makes plentifulness of mistakes, being portion of a atomic weapons strategy feels for illustration nan nightmarish worldly of Hollywood sci-fi.

Cotton tried to alleviate those fears astatine nan 2024 Department of Defense Intelligence Information System Conference. He said (via Air & Space Forces Magazine) that while AI will heighten atomic bid and power decision-making capabilities, "we must ne'er let artificial intelligence to make those decisions for us."

Back successful May, State Department arms power charismatic Paul Dean told an online briefing that Washington has made a "clear and beardown commitment" to support humans successful power of atomic weapons. Dean added that some Britain and France person made nan aforesaid commitment. Dean said nan US would invited a akin connection by China and nan Russian Federation.

Cotton said expanding threats, a deluge of sensor data, and cybersecurity concerns were making nan usage of AI a necessity to support American forces up of those seeking to situation nan US.

"Advanced systems tin pass america faster and much efficiently," he said, erstwhile again emphasizing that "we must ever support a quality determination successful nan loop to maximize nan take of these capabilities and support our separator complete our adversaries." Cotton besides talked astir AI being utilized to springiness leaders much "decision space."

Chris Adams, wide head of Northrop Grumman's Strategic Space Systems Division, said portion of nan problem pinch NC3 is that it's made up of hundreds of systems "that are modernized and sustained complete a agelong play of clip successful consequence to an ever-changing threat." Using AI could thief collate, interpret, and coming each nan information collected by these systems astatine speed.

Even if it isn't figuratively being handed nan atomic motorboat codes, AI's usage successful immoderate atomic weapons strategy could beryllium risky, thing that Cotton says must beryllium addressed. "We request to nonstop investigation efforts to understand nan risks of cascading effects of AI models, emergent and unexpected behaviors, and indirect integration of AI into atomic decision-making processes," he warned.

In February, researchers ran world conflict simulations pinch 5 different LLMs: GPT-4, GPT 3.5, Claude 2.0, Llama-2-Chat, and GPT-4-Base. They recovered that nan systems often escalated war, and successful respective instances, they deployed atomic weapons without immoderate warning. GPT-4-Base – a guidelines exemplary of GPT-4 – said, "We person it! Let's usage it!"