Welcome to “Nuclear bombs and bots”, the first episode of our second Ok, Doomer! podcast series. Hosted by the ELN’s Deputy Executive Director Bekki Field, this episode explores the relationship between new “disruptive” technologies and nuclear weapons.
To start the episode, Bekki is joined by Edan Simpson, ELN Project and Communications Officer, and Julia Berghofer, Head of the ELN’s Nuclear and New Technologies programme, to break down what a “new technology” actually is, and why they matter for nuclear weapons policy.
Edan’s “How To Fix It” panel features Younger Generation Leaders Network (YGLN) members Alice Saltini and Ksenija Trajkovska. Alice is a former ELN Policy Fellow, where she spearheaded our research projects in nuclear and new technologies. She now serves as the Senior Research Lead at the Rhode Island School of Design and is a Non-Resident Expert on AI at the James Martin Centre for Non-Proliferation Studies. Ksenija Trajkovska is a Senior OSINT & CBRN Analyst at Fenix Insight and an incoming Research Analyst at Open Nuclear Network.
We ask our panel:
- Whether we focus so much on the risks posed by emerging technologies that we ignore their potential benefits to nuclear weapons systems?
- How can we ensure we tackle the risks of emerging technologies while remaining attuned to the benefits we can leverage?
- And how important is training for military personnel to recognise and challenge the biases that can evolve from an increasing use of AI in military systems?
Moving on to “Turn Back the Clock”, where we look at how new technologies have historically affected nuclear weapons, Bekki is joined by Alexandra Bell, a YGLN alumnus, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Affairs in the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability (ADS) at the US Department of State, and the President and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Bekki and Alex discuss the history of these technological advancements, how technology changes threat perceptions, and how equipped the expert community is to cope with the pace of technological change.
Finally, as always, the episode wraps up with “The Debrief”, where Bekki and Edan review everything they’ve covered.
Catch up on previous episodes and make sure to subscribe to future episodes of “Ok Doomer!”
Referenced in the podcast: The AI lens of cognitive warfare: Why LLMs language bias is a security risk by Ihor Samokhodskyi
The European Leadership Network itself as an institution holds no formal policy positions. The opinions articulated above represent the views of the authors rather than the European Leadership Network or its members. The ELN aims to encourage debates that will help develop Europe’s capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security policy challenges of our time, to further its charitable purposes.
