OPINION:
In 1942, the Manhattan Project aimed to initiate a nuclear chain reaction, a crucial step toward demonstrating that an atomic bomb could be constructed. On Dec. 2 of that year, in a squash court beneath the stands of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago, the scientists succeeded. It was the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction ever created by humans.
Some feared the experiment could trigger a runaway chain reaction with unknowable, catastrophic consequences; others believed it might cause a massive explosion. Although most physicists dismissed those possibilities, many quietly acknowledged them. Still, the project went ahead anyway, and then, of course, we got the bomb.
Decades later, we saw a similar gamble with biology. Early warnings about lab safety and viral research were often brushed aside, even as the origins of COVID-19 raised uncomfortable questions about human error and hubris.
Now we stand before another invisible frontier. Many of the scientists leading the development of artificial intelligence are voicing unease, warning that machine learning could spiral beyond our control if proper safeguards aren’t built in. Yet, just as before, the momentum of discovery pushes us forward.
It seems paranormal to imagine machines deciding they no longer need us, choosing to disable their creators in the name of efficiency or survival. Still, I can’t help thinking that this constant game of technological Russian roulette will, one day, find its chamber loaded.
SCOTT THOMPSON
Bloomington, Indiana
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