As countries continue incorporating AI into conventional military systems, they should prepare themselves for the risk that adversaries are likely already working to exploit weaknesses in AI models by threatening datasets at the core of AI. To address this, Alice Saltini writes that states should develop metrics to assess how cyber vulnerabilities could impact AI integration.
In our latest commentary produced from our New European Voices on Existential Risk (NEVER) network, Rebecca Donaldson explores the potential of new technologies for security whilst minimising their potential for harm in the realms of AI and the life sciences. She proposes that more funds go towards the biological weapons convention, the creation of an Emerging Technology Utilisation and Response Unit (ETURU) and the fostering of a culture of AI assurance and responsible democratisation of biotechnologies.
In the absence of globally acknowledged governance frameworks for AI in the military domain, two new initiatives came into existence in 2023 – the Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (REAIM) and the US-initiated Political Declaration. Mahmoud Javadi and Michal Onderco analyse both, writing that REAIM provides a much-needed space for a democratic, depoliticised, and decentralised approach to global military AI governance.
Listen to the second episode of the NEVER podcast – Ok, Doomer! In this episode, we explore nuclear war, the first man-made existential risk. Featuring an introduction to the topic, disarmament versus deterrence, how governments have dealt with issues such as proliferation, and how they should respond to them in future.
In our latest commentary from the ELN’s New European Voices on Existential Risk (NEVER) network, Nicolò Miotto examines developments in 3D printing technology and how these advances in its efficacy and accessibility, as well as its relationship to other emerging and disruptive technologies, have changed the threat landscape in regard to terrorists potentially obtaining WMDs, as well as what governments and the private sector need to do to tackle these emerging threats.
In recent years the US and the UK have said they might deter threats arising from emerging and disruptive technologies (EDTs) with nuclear weapons. This policy shift signals an increased emphasis on nuclear deterrence and challenges the UK’s non-proliferation and disarmament commitments. Instead of aiming to deter the extreme use of EDTs with nuclear weapons, this policy brief argues that the UK and other nuclear weapons states should focus on developing their national resilience to mitigate threats.