Why artificial intelligence might trigger a nuclear war

Well before Terminator robots rise and attack us, AI could help us destroy ourselves with nuclear weapons, warns a new study. The news: A RAND Corporation report concludes that military adoption of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies could have a destabilizing effect over the next couple of decades, and lead one nation to take the nuclear option. Details: Strategic stability provided by "mutually assured destruction" might be undermined if AI offers a new--and vastly better--way to target an adversary's weapons systems, the report says. The report's findings are drawn from information collected through workshops including experts on nuclear weapons, national security, government policy, and AI. The study also suggests that, under some scenarios, AI could help preserve strategic stability, by providing new ways of gathering and analyzing information about nuclear capabilities.