In a speech to the United Nations Security Council last month, Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, took aim at artificial intelligence (AI).
While she said the technology "heralds extraordinary promise" in fields such as health and education, she also said its potential use in nuclear weapons and unmanned systems challenges the future of humanity: "Nuclear warfare has so far been constrained by human judgment. By leaders who bear responsibility and by human conscience. AI has no such concern, nor can it be held accountable. These weapons threaten to change war itself and they risk escalation without warning."
This idea—that AI warfare poses a unique threat—often features in public calls to safeguard this technology. But it is clouded by various misrepresentations of both the technology and warfare.
This raises the questions: will AI actually change the nature of warfare? And is it really unaccountable?
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