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Artificial Intelligence Safety and Stability
Nations around the world are investing in artificial intelligence (AI) to improve their military, intelligence, and other national security capabilities. Yet AI technology, at present, has significant safety and security vulnerabilities. AI systems could fail, potentially in unexpected ways, due to a variety of causes. Moreover, the interactive nature of military competition means that one nation’s actions affect others, including in ways that may be detrimental to mutual stability. There is an urgent need to explore actions that can mitigate these risks, such as improved processes for AI assurance, norms and best practices for responsible AI adoption, and confidence-building measures that improve stability among all nations.
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) Artificial Intelligence Safety and Stability project aims to better understand AI risks and specific steps that can be taken to improve AI safety and stability in national security applications. Major lines of effort include:
- Anticipating, preventing, and mitigating catastrophic AI failures
- Improving Defense Department processes for ensuring safe, secure, and trusted AI
- Understanding and shaping opportunities for compute governance
- Understanding Chinese decision-making on AI and stability
- Understanding Russian decision-making on AI and stability
This cross-program effort includes the CNAS Technology and National Security, Defense, Indo-Pacific Security, Transatlantic Security, and Energy, Economics, and Security programs. CNAS experts will share their findings in public reports and policy briefs with recommendations for policymakers.
This project is made possible with the generous support of Open Philanthropy.
Learn More:
Further Reading:
Defense
To Avoid AI Catastrophes, We Must Think Smaller
These incidents are not theoretical, nor are they projections of long-term dangers; rather, these AI tools are already presenting tangible threats to individual health and wel...
Technology & National Security
Unknown: Killer Robots
What happens when a machine makes life-or-death decisions? A documentary from Netflix featuring analysis and commentary from Paul Scharre, Stacie Pettyjohn, and Robert Work ex...
Technology & National Security
Making Unilateral Norms for Military AI Multilateral
Without significant effort from the U.S., the political declaration could easily die on the vine, and with it a structure for building AI technology responsibly....
Technology & National Security
Hijacked AI Assistants Can Now Hack Your Data
Early adopters of powerful new AI tools should recognize that they are subjects of a large-scale experiment with a new kind of cyberattack....
Technology & National Security
To Stay Ahead of China in AI, the U.S. Needs to Work with China
An AI gold rush is underway in the private sector in the wake of ChatGPT, but the geopolitical stakes are even greater. The United States and China are vying for global leader...
Technology & National Security
AI's Inhuman Advantage
AI agents’ victories demonstrate that machines can dramatically outperform humans in command and control, a potential major advantage in war....
Technology & National Security
America Can Win the AI Race
If the United States wants to win the AI competition, it must approach Beijing carefully and construct its own initiatives thoughtfully....
Technology & National Security
U.S. and China Can Show World Leadership by Safeguarding Military AI
The US and China must move beyond unilateral statements and begin developing shared confidence-building measures to manage the risks of military AI competition....
Technology & National Security
AI Nuclear Weapons Catastrophe Can Be Avoided
AI-enabled nuclear weapons are particularly concerning due to their civilization-destroying nature....
Technology & National Security
Generative AI Could Be an Authoritarian Breakthrough in Brainwashing
The U.S. and allies should also invest aggressively into counter-propaganda capabilities that can mitigate the coming waves of generative AI propaganda — both at home and with...
Technology & National Security
How to counter China’s scary use of AI tech
In the face of these AI threats, democratic governments and societies need to work to establish global norms for lawful, appropriate and ethical uses of technologies like faci...
Technology & National Security
NOTEWORTHY: DoD Autonomous Weapons Policy
In this CNAS Noteworthy, Vice President and Director of Studies Paul Scharre breaks down the new Directive and what it means for the U.S. military’s approach to lethal autonom...
Technology & National Security
How ‘Killer Robots’ Can Help Us Learn from Mistakes Made in AI Policies
While recent events may have sparked a public outcry over the dangers of “killer robots,” we should not lose sight of the danger that poor processes create when deploying AI s...
Technology & National Security
Decoupling Wastes U.S. Leverage on China
The ability to deny China access to advanced chips is a powerful advantage whose value is growing exponentially...
Technology & National Security
Putting Principles into Practice: How the U.S. Defense Department is Approaching AI
While the application of RAI is still at a nascent stage, the DoD’s continued messaging and prioritization of safe and ethical AI is important....
Technology & National Security
Debunking the AI Arms Race Theory
In 2015, a group of prominent AI and robotics researchers signed an open letter warning of the dangers of autonomous weapons. “The key question for humanity today,” they wrote...
Technology & National Security
AI and International Stability: Risks and Confidence-Building Measures
Exploring the potential use of confidence-building measures built around the shared interests that all countries have in preventing inadvertent war....
CNAS Experts
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Paul Scharre
Executive Vice President and Director of Studies
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Stacie Pettyjohn
Senior Fellow and Director, Defense Program
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Andrea Kendall-Taylor
Senior Fellow and Director, Transatlantic Security Program
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Emily Kilcrease
Senior Fellow and Director, Energy, Economics and Security Program
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Jacob Stokes
Senior Fellow, Indo-Pacific Security Program
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Bill Drexel
Associate Fellow, Technology and National Security Program
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Tim Fist
Fellow, Technology and National Security Program
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Josh Wallin
Fellow, Defense Program
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Michael Depp
Research Associate, AI Safety and Stability Project
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Noah Greene
Project Assistant, AI Safety and Stability Project
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Caleb Withers
Research Assistant, Technology and National Security Program
