‘Didn’t they make a movie about this?’: Disquiet abounds as plans announced for AI to ‘enhance’ U.S. nuclear arsenal

It’s only a matter of time until everything is run by Artificial Intelligence, and now the head of U.S. Strategic Command has already expressed a desire to use A.I. to “enhance” nuclear command and control.

Let’s take a step back for a second. Aren’t we getting a little ahead of ourselves here? A.I. still struggles to generate convincing images consistently. Should we even be entertaining the idea that these machines should be anywhere near nuclear weapons? Well, Stratcom boss Gen. Anthony J. Cotton thinks we should.

Cotton is referring to the much-needed modernization of the NC3 system which stands for Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications. It’s an important system and there are hopes that A.I. could improve its effectiveness by allowing leaders more “decision space” and ensuring that nuclear command and control capabilities are at the ready 24/7.

A.I. still has a long way to go and in some cases it has inadvertently led to human deaths. So Cotton’s words have prompted strong reactions online as you’d expect. No matter how you put it, it just doesn’t sound like a good idea right? Cotton specifies that “we must never allow artificial intelligence to make those decisions for us.” He hopes to see it used as a tool to aid in decision making, as “advanced systems can inform us faster and more efficiently.”

Gen. Cotton sounds pretty confident that there should be no threat, but that’s what they all say, then, next thing you know the robots have taken over and humans are no more.

Reactions were unanimously against the idea

A user on X instantly drew comparisons to the eighties classic, War Games in which an unwitting hacker gains access to the supercomputer designed to simulate, predict and prepare for nuclear war. I mean, have these military leaders even seen the film? It’s pretty good and it might make them think twice about allowing A.I. to have any kind of influence over the country’s nuclear arsenal.

It’s safe to say people are against this idea.

War Games isn’t the only movie to depict rogue A.I. causing a nuclear apocalypse, honestly, whenever humans imagine what it would be like to mix robots and nukes in fiction we always come to the same conclusion. Let’s take a look at the Terminator franchise, Metal Gear Solid, or I have no Mouth and I Must Scream – all of these have one thing in common, A.I. was allowed to play with nukes and it did not end well.

Have we learned nothing from these classic examples? Are really so eager to turn these pieces of science fiction into science non-fiction? It’s easy to wave away worries from people who have seen too many films, but even ignoring all of that, it just seems like a bad idea. A.I. is still in its infancy at the moment, relying on it too soon could be a fatal error for the human race, but what do I know, I’m just one of those people who’ve seen too many movies.