“End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity” ~llaw
Sep 02, 2025
On My Mind Today:
AI control of “all things nuclear”, including nuclear war, is a frightening possibility. But so is the concept of nuclear control of “all things nuclear” by humans as well. So what are the answers to creating a sound and safe world of “all things nuclear”?
The answer is that there are none, and if we continue on with future uses and types of nuclear activity, especially including nuclear weapons of mass destruction, we face a doomsday for ourselves and most all other life on planet Earth! ~llaw
The article below is posted without the “Politico” story’s images for proprietary reasons but if you like to view the images, the entire image available at this link:
AI Can’t Start a Nuclear War — Or Can It? – POLITICO
The header image for today’s LLAW’s NUCLEAR WORLD TODAY Post is taken from a similar story by the “The New Yorker”, from a 1981 essay by the “Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists” is also available at this link:
Why Don’t We Take Nuclear Weapons Seriously? | The New Yorker
The AI Doomsday Machine Is Closer to Reality Than You Think
The Pentagon is racing to integrate AI into its weapons system to keep up with China and Russia. Where will that lead?
By Michael Hirsh09/02/2025 05:55 AM EDT
- Michael Hirsh is the former foreign editor and chief diplomatic correspondent for Newsweek, and the former national editor for POLITICO Magazine.Jacquelyn Schneider saw a disturbing pattern, and she didn’t know what to make of it.
Last year Schneider, director of the Hoover Wargaming and Crisis Simulation Initiative at Stanford University, began experimenting with war games that gave the latest generation of artificial intelligence the role of strategic decision-makers. In the games, five off-the-shelf large language models or LLMs — OpenAI’s GPT-3.5, GPT-4, and GPT-4-Base; Anthropic’s Claude 2; and Meta’s Llama-2 Chat — were confronted with fictional crisis situations that resembled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or China’s threat to Taiwan.
The results? Almost all of the AI models showed a preference to escalate aggressively, use firepower indiscriminately and turn crises into shooting wars — even to the point of launching nuclear weapons. “The AI is always playing Curtis LeMay,” says Schneider, referring to the notoriously nuke-happy Air Force general of the Cold War. “It’s almost like the AI understands escalation, but not de-escalation. We don’t really know why that is.”
If some of this reminds you of the nightmare scenarios featured in blockbuster sci-fi movies like “The Terminator,” “WarGames” or “Dr. Strangelove,” well, that’s because the latest AI has the potential to behave just that way someday, some experts fear. In all three movies, high-powered computers take over decisions about launching nuclear weapons from the humans who designed them. The villain in the two most recent “Mission: Impossible” films is also a malevolent AI, called the Entity, that tries to seize control of the world’s nuclear arsenals. The outcome in these movies is often apocalyptic.
The Pentagon claims that won’t happen in real life, that its existing policy is that AI will never be allowed to dominate the human “decision loop” that makes a call on whether to, say, start a war — certainly not a nuclear one.
But some AI scientists believe the Pentagon has already started down a slippery slope by rushing to deploy the latest generations of AI as a key part of America’s defenses around the world. Driven by worries about fending off China and Russia at the same time, as well as by other global threats, the Defense Department is creating AI-driven defensive systems that in many areas are swiftly becoming autonomous — meaning they can respond on their own, without human input — and move so fast against potential enemies that humans can’t keep up.
Most troubling to experts on AI and nuclear weapons is that it’s getting harder and harder to keep decisions about targeting and escalation for nuclear weapons separate from decisions about conventional weapons.
“I’ve heard combatant commanders say, ‘Hey, I want someone who can take all the results from a war game and, when I’m in a [crisis] scenario, tell me what the solution is based on what the AI interpretation is,’” says Schneider, a self-described “geriatric millennial” and mother of two who, along with many of her university colleagues, is worried about how fast the shift to AI is happening. In the heat of a crisis, under pressure to move fast, her fear is that it will be easier for those commanders to accept an AI suggestion than to challenge it.
In 2023, the Department of Defense updated its directive on weapons systems involving the use of artificial intelligence, saying that “appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force” are required in any deployment. But critics worry the language remains too vague; the directive, called 3000.09, also includes a “waiver” if a senior Defense official decides to keep the system autonomous. The humans, in other words, can decide to take themselves out of the loop.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’s All Nuclear Daily Digest” RELATED MEDIA”:
There are 7 categories, including a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that also play an important role in the survival of human and other life.
The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
- All Things Nuclear
- Nuclear Power
- Nuclear Power Emergencies
- Nuclear War Threats
- Nuclear War
- Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There is one Yellowstone Caldera bonus story available in today’s Post.)
- IAEA News (Friday’s only)
A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (in the above listed order). If a Category heading does not appear in the daily news Digest, it means there was no news reported from this Category today. Generally, the three best articles in each Category from around the nuclear world(s) are Posted. Occasionally, if a Post is important enough, it may be listed in multiple Categories.
TODAY’S ALL NUCLEAR WORLD’s NEWS, Tuesday, (09/02/2025)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
The AI Doomsday Machine Is Closer to Reality Than You Think – POLITICO
Politico
In all three movies, high-powered computers take over decisions about launching nuclear weapons from the humans who designed them. The villain in the …
NASA advances lunar nuclear plan with commercial focus – SpaceNews
SpaceNews
But the AFPP says companies “that propose a wholly commercial approach to the end-to-end deployment, all other things being equal, will receive higher …
‘DANGEROUS PRECEDENT’: Expert warns Intel, private nuclear deal are going ‘too far’
YouTube
… nuclear #pipeline #gas #greenenergy #climate # … ‘VERY POWERFUL’: This is what the US naval build up near Venezuela is all a
Nuclear Power
NEWS
NASA advances lunar nuclear plan with commercial focus – SpaceNews
SpaceNews
NASA is moving ahead with plans to support development of a lunar nuclear power system with an emphasis on commercialization.
Michigan nuclear plant enters final phase of restart after being decommissioned
Pennsylvania Capital-Star
In western Michigan, a previously defunct nuclear plant has transitioned back to operating status following the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s …
US Needs New Class Of Investor For Large-Scale Nuclear Projects, Says Report – NucNet
NucNet
Courtesy Georgia Power. If the US is to break the current logjam in building large-scale nuclear power plants, a nuclear financing model is needed …
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
PJM faces possible long-term ‘energy emergency‘: DOE | Utility Dive
Utility Dive
Under the Federal Power Act, DOE can order power plants to operate for 90 days during emergencies. … Palisades becomes first decommissioned US nuclear …
Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Plant Reaches Final Restart Phase – Microgrid Media
Microgrid Media
Michigan keeps a strong public program for nuclear radiological emergency preparedness. The state hosts guidance and contacts for residents near …
Kenya targets 20,000MW from nuclear power by 2040 – KBC Digital
KBC Digital
… nuclear power plant in Siaya … “The nuclear project is guided by national and international laws, including emergency preparedness plans.
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
‘Nuclear armageddon’: China contest on par with Cold War, minister warns – News.com.au
News.com.au
Katter given ultimatum over journo threat. The rogue Queensland MP has been told he should either apologise or resign after he doubled down on threats …
Russia-Ukraine war brings world closer to nuclear catastrophe than any recent conflict
Washington Times
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has been closely monitoring the situation, leading inspection delegations to assess risks. The agency maintains …
Nuclear Debate Can’t Be Dodged 80 Years After the War | JAPAN Forward
JAPAN Forward
These risks become especially acute in the event of a Taiwan contingency. A 2022 war game conducted by NBC’s Meet the Press and the Center for a New .
Nuclear War
NEWS
AI Can’t Start a Nuclear War — Or Can It? – POLITICO
Politico
“The AI is always playing Curtis LeMay,” says Schneider, referring to the notoriously nuke-happy Air Force general of the Cold War. “It’s almost like …
Why Don’t We Take Nuclear Weapons Seriously? | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
In “Preventing Nuclear War,” an essay published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, in 1981, the Harvard law professor Roger Fisher imagines …
Iran says US missile demands block path to nuclear talks | Reuters
Reuters
A sixth round of Iran-U.S. talks was suspended after the start of a 12-day war in June, in which Israel and the U.S. struck Iranian nuclear facilities …
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
Are Animals Like Mountain Lions and Bears Leaving Yellowstone National Park?
NewsBreak
An articleabout the rumor posted on the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory website points out that the July 2025 social media post that seems to have set …