Kissinger: "AI Poses Risks in Wartime... May Recommend Inappropriate Actions"

"AI-Generated Exhibition Countermeasures Difficult to Double-Check"

Henry Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State known as the "Legend of Diplomacy," recently emphasized the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI), which is currently causing a global sensation. He expressed concern that AI could cause serious problems if it recommends wrong choices to leaders in crisis situations.

In an interview with CBS on the 7th (local time), Kissinger spoke about AI, stating, "The speed at which AI operates will cause problems in crisis situations."

Using wartime scenarios as an example, Kissinger pointed out that if AI recommends inappropriate behavioral guidelines to the president and staff, "If we rely on that answer, we cannot double-check it because we cannot review all the knowledge that machine (AI) has acquired." He added, "We continue to provide (the knowledge that AI holds)."

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Kissinger said he wants to raise awareness of AI's dangers in this regard, emphasizing, "I am trying to do what I did when dealing with nuclear weapons. I want to draw attention to the importance of the effects of this evolution (AI technology development)."

When asked whether there will be an AI-related arms race as AI technology is applied in more fields, Kissinger replied, "Yes," but predicted that its nature would differ from traditional arms races. He said, "In previous arms races, there was a plausible logic about how to win," adding, "This is a completely new problem."

Kissinger is a living witness to diplomacy, having played a major role in establishing U.S.-China diplomatic relations in the 1970s while serving as Secretary of State and ending the Cold War era between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. In 2021, he co-authored a book titled The Age of AI with Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, and MIT professor Daniel Huttenlocher.

Kissinger began taking an interest in AI in 2016. At the invitation of former CEO Schmidt, he attended the Bilderberg Meeting, a secretive gathering where political, economic, and royal figures from the U.S. and Europe discuss various international political and economic issues and make policy decisions. He revealed in a 2021 interview with Time magazine that he became interested in AI after attending a lecture on the topic at that meeting.

In a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) op-ed last February, Kissinger, Schmidt, and Huttenlocher warned that AI’s capabilities could expand exponentially with technological advances, and even those who created AI do not fully understand what it can do. They pointed out, "As a result, our future now contains mysterious, risky, and astonishingly new elements."

Meanwhile, Kissinger, born in 1923, will turn 100 years old on the 27th of this month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.