AI Is Reviving Fears Around Bioterrorism. What’s the Real Risk? - Centre for International Governance Innovation

The global proliferation of large language models (LLMs) is aggravating numerous security concerns. Among them is how artificial intelligence (AI) may enable extremists to commit bioterrorism to advance their ideological causes. Chatbots have already proven capable of advising users on how to plan attacks using lethal new forms of bacteria, viruses and toxins. Great-power competition, meanwhile, is distracting from threats posed by terrorist groups and malicious non-state actors. In early 2023, a scientist and former UN weapons inspector, Rocco Casagrande, brought a small container to the White House for a briefing with US government officials. It was filled with a dozen easily available chemical ingredients that Anthropic’s flagship chatbot, Claude, recommended as precursors to trigger another pandemic. Casagrande’s stunt confirmed that anyone with an internet connection can now conceivably create their own weapon of mass destruction. “It is clear that biological technology, now boost

The global proliferation of large language models (LLMs) is aggravating numerous security concerns. Among them is how artificial intelligence (AI) may enable extremists to commit bioterrorism to advance their ideological causes. Chatbots have already proven capable of advising users on how to plan attacks using lethal new forms of bacteria, viruses and toxins. Great-power competition, meanwhile, is distracting from threats posed by terrorist groups and malicious non-state actors. In early 2023, a scientist and former UN weapons inspector, Rocco Casagrande, brought a small container to the Whit