Opinion Warns 2 AI-Driven Attack Paths Could Hit U.S. Infrastructure
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 10
Opinion Warns 2 AI-Driven Attack Paths Could Hit U.S. Infrastructure
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 10
Summary
Two foreseeable threats now loom over the United States, the essay argues: an AI-designed cyberattack on critical infrastructure and an AI-enabled biological attack by small groups or even individuals.
AI’s broad availability is presented as the driver, giving hostile actors tools to target internet-connected financial, health care and other essential systems or to design a deadly, highly contagious pathogen.
The writer says the danger is being underestimated again, echoing a 1999 warning that Al Qaeda would strike the U.S. homeland within two years before the Sept. 11 attacks.
Covid-era disinformation and weakening democratic cohesion could worsen the fallout, undermining expert response and even threatening the continued functioning of government in a major attack.