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Evil-Doers Could Use AI to Create Deadly Biological or Chemical Weapons

A bubonic plague smear, prepared from a lymph removed from an adenopathic lymph node, or bubo, of a plague patient, demonstrates the presence of the Yersinia pestis bacteria that causes the plague in this undated photo.
A bubonic plague smear, prepared from a lymph removed from an adenopathic lymph node, or bubo, of a plague patient, demonstrates the presence of the Yersinia pestis bacteria that causes the plague in this undated photo. Photo: Getty Images (Getty Images)

No good AI doomsday scenario would be complete without the inclusion of deadly bioweapons. The UK discussion paper claims those scenarios, once reserved for the pages of an airport thriller paperback, may have some real validity. The paper cites previous studies showing how current “narrow” AI models already possess the ability to generate novel proteins. Future “frontier AI” connected to the internet could take that knowledge a step further and be instructed to carry out real-world lab experiments.

“Frontier AI models can provide user-tailored scientific knowledge and instructions for laboratory work which can potentially be exploited for malicious purposes,” the paper states. “Studies have shown that systems may provide instruction on how to acquire biological and chemical materials.”

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