According to a new report released Tuesday that carries a warning from the Arms Control Association, cutting-edge technologies will be converted into military systems at an ever-increasing tempo, and the dangers to world security will grow apace.
The report explains the risks that the U.S. and other nations will face if a strategy isnt implemented to regulate technologies that pose a threat, such as cyberweapons, autonomy, hypersonic missiles, robotics, and artificial intelligence.
Its noted in the report that A more thorough understanding of the distinctive threats to strategic stability posed by these technologies and the imposition of restraints on their military use would go a long way toward reducing the risks of Armageddon.
The Department of Defense (DoD) is called out in the report about the DoDs failure to incorporate the department-wide implementation of the regulation procedures for artificial intelligence (AI).
The report goes on to say, But even as the Department of Defense - and the militaries of the other major powers - rush ahead with the weaponization of advanced technologies, many analysts and policymakers have cautioned against moving with such haste until more is known about how the various military capabilities stemming from these technologies may lead to unintended and hazardous outcomes.
Non-military devices governed by AI, such as self-driving cars and facial-recognition systems, have been known to fail in dangerous and unpredictable ways. Should similar failures occur among AI-empowered weaponry during wartime, the outcomes could include the unintended slaughter of civilians or the outbreak of nuclear war.
According to Breaking Defense, the authors have proposed a framework that reduces the risk to strategic stability and educates the public and policymakers about the potential risks that may occur due to the unregulated use of emerging technologies.
The framework notes, Given the current state of international affairs, it will prove difficult for the U.S. and Russia or the U.S. and China - or all three meeting together - to agree on formal measures for the control of especially destabilizing technologies. It should, however, be possible for these states to adopt unilateral measures in the hope that they will induce parallel steps by their adversaries and eventually lead to binding bilateral and multilateral agreements.
The report says, As an example of a useful first step, the leaders of the major nuclear powers could jointly pledge to eschew cyberattacks against each others nuclear C3I systems. and that This need not take the form of a binding treaty, but could be incorporated into a joint statement by leaders of the countries involved.
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