Military AI Arms Race

An Military AI Arms Race is an international AI race to dominate weaponized artificial intelligence.

• Context:
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • an International Commercial AI Race.
  • Nuclear Arms Race.
• See: Busy Child Scenario.

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References

2017d

• https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/904638455761612800
  • QUOTE: It begins … China, Russia, soon all countries w strong computer science. Competition for AI superiority at national level most likely cause of WW3 imo.

2017c

• http://theverge.com/2017/9/4/16251226/russia-ai-putin-rule-the-world
  • QUOTE: Russian president Vladimir Putin has joined the war of words concerning the international race to develop artificial intelligence. Speaking to students last Friday, Putin predicted that whichever country leads the way in AI research will come to dominate global affairs. “Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind,” said Putin, reports RT. “It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.”

2015

• (Istvan, 2015) ⇒ Zoltan Istvan. March 6, 2015. "A Global Arms Race to Create a Superintelligen AI is Looming."
  • QUOTE: … Whichever government launches and controls a superintelligent AI first will almost certainly end up the most powerful nation in the world because of it.

2012

• http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/AI_arms_race
  • An AI arms race is a situation where multiple parties are trying to be the first to develop machine intelligence technology.

    Humanity has some historical experience with arms races involving nuclear weapons technology. However, Arms races and intelligence explosions names a few important differences between nuclear weapons and AI technology, which may create dynamics in AI arms races that we have not seen elsewhere.

    • If an intelligence explosion occurs, this could allow the first party passing the relevant threshold to develop extremely advanced technology in years, months, or less, creating a strong winner-takes-all effect.
    • The development of AI technology carries the risk of creating unfriendly AI, potentially causing human extinction.
    • Non-military benefits from AI will make arms control seem undesirable; the fact that AI development requires only researchers and computers will make arms control difficult. On the other hand, the risks involved provide strong reasons to try, and AI systems could themselves help enforce agreements.
  • If the benefits of an intelligence explosion accrue to the group that created it, and the risks affect the entire world, this creates an incentive to sacrifice safety for speed. In addition to the risk of accidental unfriendly AI, there is the risk that the winner of an arms race turns into a badly-behaved human singleton.

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