Chinese and Russian AI could access nuclear bombs and start WW3 as regulators warn of computers' 'Oppenheimer moment'

Military experts have called for ‘human only’ control of nuclear weapons to avoid a nuclear calamity

A senior US official has warned China and Russia to ensure that only humans have access to nuclear weapons, to avoid a scenario where a mistake from artificial intelligence could inadvertently spark a nuclear war.

The US, Britain, and France have all agreed to exclusively let humans control their nuclear weapons, according to Paul Dean, an arms control official at the State Department. This agreement was brokered to ensure that no technology failures would accidentally lead to a conflict.

The principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence pleaded for China and Russia to follow suit, ensuring the highest degree of safety and a technological failsafe, reports the Daily Mail.

“We think it is an extremely important norm of responsible behavior and we think it is something that would be very welcome in a P5 context,” he said, mentioning the P5, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

Dean’s warning comes after artificial intelligence experts warned that AI could be on the cusp of its ”Oppenheimer moment’.” Therefore, the regulators are calling on governments to enact legislation that will curb the influence of artificial intelligence, before it is too late.

J Robert Oppenheimer helped to create the atomic bomb in 1945 but soon began to advocate for measures to prevent and control its future use. On Monday in Vienna, delegates from civilian, military, and technology spheres from over 100 countries met to discuss the possible militarization of AI.

Artificial intelligence is being incorporated into a military setting at a fast rate, but the technology is still in its infancy. However, there is still no international regulation against the creation of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS).

“This is the Oppenheimer Moment of our generation,” noted Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg. “Now is the time to agree on international rules and norms.”

Schallenberg said that AI was the biggest advancement in war since the invention of gunpowder over a thousand years ago. However, the Austrian Minister conceded that AI was more dangerous.

“At least let us make sure that the most profound and far-reaching decision, who lives and who dies, remains in the hands of humans and not of machines,” Schellenberg said. He doubled down on the call to “ensure human control,” noting that AI is progressively being factored into military decision-making.

Meanwhile, Steve Goose, an arms campaigns director at Human Rights Watch, also issued a warning. “The world is approaching a tipping point for acting on concerns over autonomous weapons systems, and support for negotiations is reaching unprecedented levels,” he said. “The adoption of a strong international treaty on autonomous weapons systems could not be more necessary or urgent.”

According to +972 magazine, earlier this year AI was used in a military context by the Israeli military. Using a program called ‘Lavender’, over 37,000 Palestinians were deemed legitimate targets because of their supposed militancy. Lavender is equipped with data from the Israeli intelligence’s surveillance of Palestinian groups over the course of a decade.

They used the digital footprints of known militants to provide answers on what signals to look for in militants, according to the +972 report.

Elsewhere, Ukraine is using AI to enhance the capability of their drones in their war against Russia. This technology could empower the drones to lock onto Russian targets from further away, while also being more resistant to electronic counter moves. Deputy Defence Minister Kateryna Chernohorenko said that Ukraine is working on a new system that can identify and strike targets from a great distance, meaning the drones would be harder to identify and subsequently stop.

“Our drones should be more effective and should be guided towards the target without any operators. It should be based on visual navigation. We also call it ”last-mile targeting”, homing in according to the image,” she told The Telegraph.

The topic of nuclear weapons and artificial intelligence is particularly pertinent in light of the Biden administration trying to accelerate dialogue with China regarding these developments. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi broached the topics during talks in Beijing on April 26.

Blinken said that in the coming weeks, both nations will discuss artificial intelligence, saying that safety measures will be the key point of discussions. In an attempt to normalize military communications, the US and China discussed nuclear weapons in January. However, arms control negotiations are not expected for some time.

China is strengthening its nuclear weapon capabilities but urged the world’s nuclear powers to negotiate a no-first-use treaty between each other.

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