Last year, Vox laid out their view as to how true or useful the “artificial intelligence is the new nuclear weapons” analogy actually is. The high-level summary of their take is:
Similarities:
- The scientific progress on the technology has been very rapid.
- There is potential for mass harm, even if the mechanism is generally less obvious in the case of AI.
- Both require materials - uranium for nukes, certain types of microchips for AI - that are relatively scare and potentially trackable.
- They have dynamics of an arms race.
Differences:
- Nuclear weapons are a wholly military technology, AI is a general-purpose one.
- It’s much easier to copy someone’s AI than their nuclear bomb.
Their takeaway is that the general “AI is like a nuclear weapon” analogy is usually quite parallel enough to prove useful, but that certain specific processes involved are similar. And in any case, in general:
The best way to handle a new, powerful, dangerous technology is through broad international cooperation. The right approach isn’t to lie back and just let scientists and engineers transform our world without outside input.