Michael Klare joins Scott to talk about his recent article, “Alexa, Launch Our Nukes!”, about the dangers of a future where our weapons systems are controlled by artificial intelligence—indeed they already are to an ever greater extent. Computers of course have a big advantage over humans in processing lots of data quickly, so they can conceivably do a much better job calculating when and where to fire weapons, running simulations of different battle scenarios, distinguishing valid targets based on image recognition, etc. What they can’t do is make the type of decision that might involve losing a conventional war rather than starting a nuclear war. Moreover, computers are only as good as the humans programming them, and those humans can and do make mistakes. Unfortunately we have a tendency to trust computers as inherently immune to mistakes.

Discussed on the show:

• ““Alexa, Launch Our Nukes!”” (Unz.com)
• Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology
• Cuban Missile Crisis
• “Expelled for Possession of a Butter Knife” (ABC)
• “‘The Business of War’: Google Employees Protest Work for the Pentagon” (New York Times)

Michael Klare is the author of The Race for What’s Left and a regular contributor at TomDispatch.com. Find him on Twitter @mklare1.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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