Eric Schmidt Believes AI Is As Powerful As Nuclear Weapons

During the Aspen Security Forum, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt talked about the dangers of AI, claiming that AI should be treated the same way as nuclear weapons and regulated by similar treaties.

While discussing his role at Google and the developments the industry was working on 20 years ago, Schmidt shared that he was very "naive about the impact of what we were doing." Citing the power of information technology, he then urged the technology to be better in compliance with the ethics and morals of the people it serves and drew a comparison between AI and nuclear weapons.

He mentioned that, for example, during the Cold War, countries developed a "no surprise" rule by which geopolitical powers like China and the US would notify each other if they were conducting a nuclear test and eventually banned them at all. This lowered the risks of misunderstanding which might spark World War III.

"It’s an example of a balance of trust or lack of trust, it’s a 'no surprises' rule," he said. "I’m very concerned that the U.S. view of China as corrupt or Communist or whatever, and the Chinese view of America as failing… will allow people to say 'Oh my god, they’re up to something,' and then begin some kind of conundrum. Begin some kind of thing where, because you’re arming or getting ready, you then trigger the other side."

Schmidt concluded the thought by saying that currently, there is no such system in place for how AI is developed or used and expressed his concern that this may lead to a possibility of the harmful use of AI. "We don’t have anyone working on [regulation of AI], and yet AI is that powerful," he warned.