Thread

US Military had close call after using AI for hallucinated intelligence report

519 points · 396 comments · realsarm

jameson · 1789755937 · focus · HN ↗
It reminds me of the an Soviet officer who disobeyed early warning system's alert that US had launched four ICBMs and did not immediately relay the issue up to the chain of command.
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alar...
1. JumpCrisscross · 1789756247 · focus · HN ↗
  It reminds me of laughing at the stupid old Europeans starting a war because an Austrian numpty got himself shot in Serbia. Like, we almost sunk a Chinese ship because an AI thought the sour candies they were transporting were nukes is in the same category of shitheadedness. (I'm embellishing–we don't know what was on board.)
  1. stefs · 1789758623 · focus · HN ↗
    the assassination of archduke franz ferdinand was just the trigger but not the reason. the war would have started anyway.
    cogman10 · 1789759708 · focus · HN ↗
    It's complicated.
    WW1 happened due to the crazy web of treaties between nations. It's not unlike nuclear holocaust and MAD doctrine. There could have been other triggers for WW1, but that's not really a guarantee.
    That is to say, definitely possible and maybe even likely but not inevitable.
    verdverm · 1789763895 · focus · HN ↗
    Several leaders were itching for war, to build empires. Emprice building was normal to them as was going to war to achieve it. They opinions we hold today on war (largely from reflecting on the world wars) are not the opinions they had about war.
    They gave commands to prepare for war and just needed the excuse to say go. I think the not-war outcome was very unlikely.
    jemmyw · 1789769256 · focus · HN ↗
    Which leaders? I don't believe any of the players thought they would gain empire in Europe. Everyone was trying to be defensive, combined with slow communication and poor politics. Now that historians have access to much of the internal documentation it doesn't seem like an inevitable war. If only the Habsburgs had been more decisive, or Wilhelm more politically astute, instead of making grand gestures then going on a boating holiday with his British naval mates.
    It's not that they needed an excuse to say no, it's that they each thought backing down would be worse. And tbh I don't think any the current leaders are better. Nicholas II "I will not become responsible for a monstrous slaughter" vs Putin's war of choice.
    verdverm · 1789772644 · focus · HN ↗
    <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Conrad_von_H%C3%B6tzendorf" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Conrad_von_H%C3%B6tzendo...
    He asked for his country to go to war more than two dozen times leading up to the outbreak. Ferdinand was the main opposition to his desires
    The first episodes to the YT channel go into many of the details. I really like that group, they make week-by-week war documentaries with many mini-series on special topics. Top notch content and production quality.
    <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@TheGreatWar" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/@TheGreatWar

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