AI Just Created Viruses Not Found in Nature(nytimes.com) |
AI Just Created Viruses Not Found in Nature(nytimes.com) |
But what actually worries me most is biosecurity.
Someone angry at the world with the $800 of CRISPR gene editing equipment at home and an AI model coaching them through engineering a virus for maximum harm.
1 angry person with $800 in CRISPR and AI
1 angry person with $800 in pangolin cages and time
1 company with a billion chickens and a drive to cut biosafety costs
It's still worth thinking about it, of course, but by far the way to mitigate risks are things like wastewater surveillance, tracing purchases of physical supplies, etc...
Of course, an LLM could provide advice that makes it easier for a virologist to do something like this, but there is little indication the effect size there is notable.
The life sciences are very hard. A motivated undergrad requires extensive in-person teaching to become useful in far simpler projects. It's not clear how an LLM can in the foreseeable future bridge that gap when human experts can't teach someone without a lot of time and in person interaction, and that is with access to a staffed, resourced lab.
Someone like him would have access to the "properly stocked lab".
That's the nightmare scenario.
I'm sure that some day, maybe not even that far off, the tech to do all of this will be much cheaper and easier to buy. There will come a time when all that stops people from your nightmare scenario is "used car money", a solid education, and regulatory agencies. Happily that time hasn't arrived yet, but I do appreciate that people are at least talking about it before it actually arrives.
Besides, biology grad students rarely or never have access to a lab with zero oversight.