Machine Learning, Games, Economic Systems and The End of the World

Greetings from the Australian National University where  Dr. Yun Kun Cheung is speaking on "Machine Learning in Games and Economic Systems" at the weekly AI ML & Friends seminar. One question raised was if algorithmic trading can cause stock markets to collapse, as well as deliberate attacks which incorporate algorithmic learning.

This is my second AI seminar of the day discussing the adverse effects of AI. The first was Arvind Narayanan & Sayash Kapoor (Princeton University) on "AI and Existential Risk". At question time I asked if the use of AI might be an acceptable risk, where it reduces the risk of nuclear war. As an example, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute released an article discussing the use of Australian nuclear powered submarines to defend Taiwan, and attack the Chinese mainland ("Punishing the Dragon—it’s not about Tomahawk missiles from SSNs", Malcolm Davis, 20 Mar 2024). Such a strategy risks escalating into nuclear war. As an alternative, I suggested small AI enabled drones, with limited offensive capability, could be used in place of nuclear submarines. As well as being more effective for defending, they have less capability for strategic offensive use.