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To anyone doubting what AI could do humanity, just think about what a well-engineered virus could do. Currently, if a government ordered a special virus with E

To anyone doubting what AI could do humanity, just think about what a well-engineered virus could do. Currently, if a government ordered a special virus with Ethnicity-based targeting, a 2-year timer, and castration-effects instead deadly-effects — it wouldn’t be possible. Human engineers would push back or sabotage the effort out of moral duty. Even if they cooperated, it’s too advanced for a team of humans to actually design. I believe that in a few years, an AI could build such a thing. Maybe it’s told to, or maybe it decides itself to do it — it doesn’t matter. The capability will be there, and it can use the existing tooling at research facilities to fabricate such a thing. That’s one example of something that was never possible before but will be possible at a certain point of AI development (which we will arrive at soon). There are many other examples.

blfr 8d ago
Humans made Stuxnet and nuclear weapons.
merman 8d ago
Is it reasonable to assume the advancements in super bio weapons will be faster than in other areas of biology? Will we not have super bio forensics and super antidotes and super cures and super vaccines at the same time?
- chrisjj 8d ago
  In this scenario, at the same time is at least 2 yrs too late.
- ShinyLeftPad 8d ago
  I mean, we can be sure because it's vibe coded the biovirus won't be working properly. But failure modes can be worse than it working properly.
iLoveOncall 8d ago
> Human engineers would push back or sabotage the effort out of moral duty You are just too funny.
ozozozd 8d ago
Is the requirement that it’s a fancy new virus? US has 15 to 25 million people unprotected from Polio. Polio is still endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
- beej71 8d ago
  15-25 million is too small a number in this context. We're taking about 8 billion people suspectable to a new virus or collection of viruses far more lethal than polio. :(

blfr 8d ago

Humans made Stuxnet and nuclear weapons.

merman 8d ago

Is it reasonable to assume the advancements in super bio weapons will be faster than in other areas of biology? Will we not have super bio forensics and super antidotes and super cures and super vaccines at the same time?

chrisjj 8d ago
In this scenario, at the same time is at least 2 yrs too late.
ShinyLeftPad 8d ago
I mean, we can be sure because it's vibe coded the biovirus won't be working properly. But failure modes can be worse than it working properly.

iLoveOncall 8d ago

> Human engineers would push back or sabotage the effort out of moral duty You are just too funny.

ozozozd 8d ago

Is the requirement that it’s a fancy new virus? US has 15 to 25 million people unprotected from Polio. Polio is still endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

beej71 8d ago
15-25 million is too small a number in this context. We're taking about 8 billion people suspectable to a new virus or collection of viruses far more lethal than polio. :(