“But a future in which AI systems entirely took over war fighting responsibilities and the only human role was to authorize an AI to initiate conflict might fundamentally change the nature of war. Humans might still be victims of war, suffering AI-directed attacks. But they would no longer be agents of war engaged in the fighting.” (p. 281)
Paul Scharre is a former U.S. Army Ranger and now vice president at the Center for New American Security. He has extensive Artificial Intelligent experience with his time at the Pentagon. Scharre cites actual AI vs. U.S. pilots in dog-fights when the AI systems accelerated their planes to G-Force levels where human pilots would pass out. Scharre has also witnessed robots that he thinks will be the next advance in Army soldiers.
Scharre documents current AI competition between the U.S. and China and Russia. Here are a couple of disturbing quotes:
“Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the salter of the world.” –Russian President Vladimir Putin
“Science and technology has become the main battleground of global power rivalry.” –Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping
Four Battlegrounds presents the present AI research as a new Industrial Revolution that will change everything. If you want to see what your Future is likely to change into, Four Battlegrounds is your window into a troubled tomorrow. Are you as concerned about AI as I am? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS — xiii
PREFACE — xv
INTRODUCTION — 1
PART I : POWER
- The new oil — 11
- Data — 18
- Compute — 25
- Talent — 30
- Institutions — 35
PART II: COMPETITION
6. A winning hand — 43
7. Maven — 52
8. Revolt — 60
9. Sputnik moment — 68
PART III: REPRESSION
10. Terror — 79
11. Sharp eyes — 84
12. A better world — 91
13. Panopticon — 97
14. Dystopia — 105
PART IV: TRUTH
15. Disinformation — 117
16. Synthetic reality — 127
17. Transformation — 135
18. Bot wars — 141
PART V: RIFT
19. Fusion — 155
20. Harmony — 169
21. Stranglehold — 178
PART VI: REVOLUTION
22. Robotics row — 191
23. Project Voltron — 195
24. Foundation — 200
25. The wrong kind of lethality — 209
26. Jedi — 214
27. Disruption — 219
PART VII: ALCHEMY
28. Control — 229
29. Poison — 238
39. Trust — 249
40. Race to the bottom — 254
PART VIII: FIRE
32. Alien intelligence — 263
33. Battlefield singularity — 276
34. Restraint — 286
35. The future of AI — 294
CONCLUSION — 302
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS — 307
Abbreviations — 310
NOTES — 314
INDEX — 457
Yes—I am very concerned about how A.I. is being developed for any number of reasons, the military applications of A.I. being only one of my fears. For the last couple of years, it feels more and more as if we’re hurdling toward a future that none of us wants and yet no one has any idea how to put the brakes on. Pretty soon we’ll all be living in our UBIK capsules like in the Philip K. Dick novel while our avatars engage in and live our lives for us. Shudder!
Deb, even if the U.S. puts controls on Artificial Intelligence research, China and Russia and North Korea won’t. We’re in an A.I. arms race! Love your reference to one of Philip K. Dick’s underrated novels, UBIK!
Oh yeah, big time. How stupid can these people be? Haven’t they ever seen the Terminator movies? Or so many other SF films? We’re doomed, I tell you, doomed.
The only saving grace is, we may not live to see an AI war destroy the world.
Jeff, we’re back from Ohio. It rained most of the way. The “experts” who blithely predict “great things” coming from Artificial Intelligence have NOT see THE TERMINATOR movies! There’s a lot of downside to this technology!
I, for one, welcome our AI overlords!
Bob, if our AI overlords resemble Terminators, your Life is likely to be nasty, brutish, and short.
Not as if THE TERMINATOR was the first warning, either; nor UBIK. Idiots who want to rush headlong into weaponizing Everything have always been pestilence, and, of course, have been doted on by those with the most power, and seeking more.
Fascists consistently manage to let their fantasies run away with, then from, them. And who pays? Everyone, to some degree.
Consider, George, how the lowest-level of AI in WordPress keeps double-barreling your posts for the last couple of days…
Todd, I’m convinced WORDPRESS is trying to drive me mad! I suspect it has Terminator tendencies!
Todd, most of the A.I. applications in China center on manipulation and control.
I’mho that is alreasy the case with all the big online systems – facebook, telegram, twitter, tiktok … and it will get worse.
I already limit my reading and my communication to people I know or I’m 100% sure are human (like you …)- and not fascists or “cross thinkers” as we call them in German.
Just a simple example:
When I see a “strange” headline on google news I usually immediately realise:
It’s fox or the New york Post or …
and of course it’s idiotic and unbelievable.
And it’s getting worse …
I
Wolf, you’re right: it is getting worse. We have to find some sane way to deal with it!