Maybe It’s Time for Silicon for Peace

In 1945, the United States’ Trinity test resulted in the first successful explosion of the first atomic bomb. Four years later, the Soviet Union followed with its own successful nuclear test. Amidst fears of uncontrolled nuclear spread, less than 10 years later, the major powers agreed to create the International Atomic Energy Agency, which was established to help ensure peaceful access to nuclear materials.

While there has not been an equivalent of the Trinity test for artificial intelligence (AI), its development has been more of a series of small explosions, rather than a large bomb. Its creators have repeatedly made connections to Trinity, with Sam Altman of OpenAI comparing his work to the Manhattan Project and xAI’s Elon Musk saying AI could be “more dangerous than nukes.”

And while plenty of tech companies artificially hype up their products to spur investment, there is reason to believe that they are speaking the truth here. AI is already changing how economies work. Sometimes, these changes are small or just obnoxious, like the fact that most books released on Amazon are now likely AI-written. But as AI is increasingly used by governments and private corporations, it will create a sea change in how we go about our day-to-day lives. It’s aiding illegal hackers, too, who now have the potential to cause widespread economic damage.

Read more at The National Interest.