US lawmakers introduce bill to prevent nuclear launches controlled by AI

Several top scientists including legendary theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking had warned that the unaligned development of artificial intelligence, without any control, could spell an end to humanity on the earth. 

And now, understanding the dangers surrounding the evolution of AI, Bipartisan lawmakers in the American Senate and House have proposed a bill that prohibits the use of Artificial Intelligence for the launch of nuclear weapons.

Even though the Department of Defense policy already states that a human must be "in the loop" for such critical decisions, the new bill — the Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act, will codify existing Pentagon rules while launching nuclear weapons. 

"In all cases, the United States will maintain a human 'in the loop' for all actions critical to informing and executing decisions by the President to initiate and terminate nuclear weapon employment," according to the bill. 

The proposed legislation highlights the role of human intelligence over artificial intelligence, especially at crucial times like a nuclear weapon launch. It brings out a crucial idea that, without meaningful human oversight, no autonomous system shall launch, engage or select targets with the intention to launch a weapon.

Introducing the bill, Senator Markey said: "As we live in an increasingly digital age, we need to ensure that humans hold the power alone to command, control, and launch nuclear weapons - not robots...We need to keep humans in the loop on making life or death decisions to use deadly force, especially for our most dangerous weapons."

Another senator Ken Buck said that he is proud to co-sponsor this legislation where human beings would take a final decision over the most critical and sensitive military operations.

A few days back, Max Tegmark, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has warned that unaligned superintelligence is as deadly as a dangerous asteroid approaching Earth.

In a column written in The Time, Tegmark compared the rise of AI to the plot of the popular Netflix movie, "Don't Look Up," where scientists are ignored despite having a plan to prevent an asteroid from hitting Earth.