Can artificial intelligence make biological weapons?

Artificial intelligence could be misused for the development of biological weapons. Why are such weapons difficult to detect, how do they differ from chemical weapons and how effective is the ban?
Artificial intelligence could also be misused for the development of biological weapons. It sounds like science fiction, but scientists, security services and international organizations are already dealing with it, he writes Deutsche says.

Advances in biotechnology enable ever more precise analysis and modification of the causative agent of disease. Artificial intelligence accelerates the processing of large amounts of data. Experts therefore warn that modern technologies could be misused for the development of biological weapons in the long term.

Security services are also monitoring the development with concern. The head of Britain's MI5 domestic intelligence service, Ken McCallum, has warned that artificial intelligence could increase the threat of existing or even new biological weapons - and in the hands of so-called non-state actors.

Biological Weapons: Between Science and Abuse

A report from the American artificial intelligence company Anthropic from September of this year shows how heated this debate is.

According to the company, several attempts by researchers to use its Claude system in work that could be related to the development of biological weapons were detected and blocked.

The report states that these were requests for funding for so-called gain-of-function research and projects to study bird flu variants that could potentially be more easily transmitted to mammals.

Antropik also emphasized that such research can serve both medical prevention and military purposes.

The difficult distinction between legitimate science and possible abuse is considered one of the biggest problems in controlling modern biotechnologies.

Photo: Pixabay

What is a biological weapon?

Concerns about biological weapons are not new. Biological agents can include bacteria, viruses, fungi, or certain toxins.

Well-known examples are anthrax, plague, smallpox or botulinum toxin. Anthrax is considered one of the most famous biological warfare agents. Its resistant spores can survive in the environment for a long time, and have been studied in government biological weapons development programs.

The World Health Organization and the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs define biological weapons as the intentional release of such biological substances to cause harm to humans, animals or plants.

As a rule, biological weapons have two components: the biological active substance itself and the dispersal system. These include rockets, dispersal systems or contaminated food.

Biological weapons, along with atomic and chemical weapons, belong to the group of so-called ABH weapons. They are often also considered weapons of mass destruction.

How is it different from chemical weapons?

Biological and chemical weapons differ in their mode of action. Chemical weapons harm people through the poisonous effect of chemical substances, such as sarin. The effect often occurs within seconds or minutes.

Examples are attacks with poisonous gases, first chlorine and then mustard gas in the First World War, or the use of the nerve agent sarin in Syria.

Biological weapons cause infectious diseases. Its effect can occur only after a few hours, days or weeks. Some causative agents can be further transmitted, so the consequences are difficult to predict.

Photo: Pixabay/satheeshsankaran

Are biological weapons banned worldwide?

Yes, biological weapons are banned. The Biological Weapons Convention entered into force in 1975. It prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, transfer and use of biological and toxin weapons.

The Convention can be seen as an extension of the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which only prohibited the use of biological warfare agents as a method of warfare. The Convention is signed by 189 states. Some countries, such as Egypt, Syria, and Israel, have not ratified or signed it.

States that have ratified it also undertake to destroy all stockpiles, production facilities and means of delivery.

Chemical weapons are also banned. The system for their control, however, is considered to be much more developed. The implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention is monitored by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. It can conduct inspections and control the destruction of stockpiles.

Such a biological weapons control system does not exist to this day. States fear that inspections could reveal sensitive research data from medicine, the pharmaceutical industry or biotechnology. That is why control is largely based on goodwill.

Prohibition is not enough to prevent use, one of the most famous examples, which happened in the USA in 2001, shows. A few weeks after the 9/11 attacks, shipments of anthrax spores were sent. 22 people became infected and five died.

Why are biological weapons difficult to control?

Detecting biological weapons development programs is much more difficult than controlling atomic or chemical weapons. Many technologies that can be used to develop biological weapons also have civilian applications. The same laboratory equipment used to develop vaccines or drugs could theoretically be used for military research.

Additionally, a biological attack may initially appear to be a natural disease outbreak. It is often difficult to determine whether an agent was deliberately released or appeared naturally, as shown by the controversies surrounding the outbreak of the corona pandemic.

Perhaps that is why biological weapons have always returned throughout history. Historical accounts mention various practices, from poisoning wells to using the corpses of epidemic victims during sieges. It is debatable how effective such methods really were.

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