LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #788, Tuesday, (10/22/2024)
LLAW’s All Things Nuclear #788, Tuesday, (10/22/2024)
"End Nuclear Insanity Before Nuclear Insanity Ends Humanity” ~llaw
A regulatory loophole means nuclear power stations in the U.S. are ubiquitously using unregulated AI. (Art by Midjourney for Fierce Network)
LLAW’s NUCLEAR VIEWS, ISSUES & COMMENTS, Tuesday, (10/22/2024)
LLAW’s View of what we need to know and understand about the future of AI: (Related Op-Ed article below by Fierce News)
AI (Artificial Intelligence) will destroy the Internet and take humanity right along with it. If it has not already done so, it is well on its way to ruling over our human intelligence. The end result of AI's purpose, whether we think so or not, will be absolute control of human life, our functionality automatically fed from it every day, allowing without knowing it to influence and control us without recognition of its manipulating purposes. In short, we are controlled by AI, not the other way around . . .
The Internet is the most powerful communications tool ever conceived by man, but few of us have ever learned how to use it as the tool it was meant to be, so just a few of us can easily control the rest of us. Combined with useful automation-like service systems such as banking, shopping, chatting, remote friendships, and useful exchange of news and other important information among those of us who otherwise live our lives in community, it is also useful, but there is absolutely no rightful place for AI's ability to control how, what, when, and where we live our daily human lives. AI must be a subject to us -- a useful instrument -- but never should it be allowed equality status to human thought or intelligence because if it can it will. And then it will control us.
And yet AI, with its intellectual design (which is increasing every day),compared to us both individually and collectively and our naturally inferior intelligence, equality and loss of superiority is exactly what we see happening to us-- especially with expressing ourselves as sentient individuals in our speech, writing, opinions, and deductive reasoning through, for instance, our relationships, jobs, social media together with online commercial marketing and advertising that are gradually leading us toward a future of a forgotten and wasted once unique way of living a personal and individualistic life.
If we are to survive as a species, we must change our direction and follow our own destiny, not the dictatorially enslaved purpose of Artificial Intelligence and those who believe they can manipulate it, even though they are wrong.
AI is led by mankind's own ingenuous and foolish creative capabilities of AI, expecting it to function for us rather than with us as just another useful ingredient in our our own right to make our own decisions. That is not AI's objective, nor the objectives of those who think they can control it. ~llaw
Today’s related Op-Ed article:
Op-Ed: AI infiltrates US nuclear plants via unregulated back door
By Stephen M Saunders MBE Oct 21, 2024 10:43am
artificial intelligence (AI) Op-Ed nuclear power
The U.S. has no regulatory agency policing AI usage in the the country's nuclear sector, unlike in Europe and China
Prioritizing rapid innovation over safety increases the risk of catastrophic failures in North America
Hyperscalers like Microsoft and Google oppose regulation, and will increase the nuclear safety risks of unregulated AI
Nuclear power is supposed to be one of the most stringently controlled industries in the world, but a regulatory loophole actually, more of a yawning chasm — means that nuclear power stations in the U.S. are ubiquitously using unregulated artificial intelligence (AI) for everything from control systems to anomaly detection to autonomous robotic systems.
It’s yet another example of how far behind the rest of the world the U.S. is in its approach to the deployment of advanced technologies like AI, automation and predictive analytics.
How big a problem is the nuclear AI free-for-all? Several founding fathers of AI, including Stuart Russell and Nick Bostrom, have recently had Oppenheimer-style “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds” moments, warning of the catastrophic consequences of unrestrained AI deployment — and unregulated AI in nuclear energy is exactly the kind of scenario they are concerned about.
Related
FNTV: Unregulated AI in US nuclear power - a looming crisis?
All it takes is one AI agent to misinterpret reactor sensor data and reduce water flow to the cooling tank, and — presto — Fukushima meltdown or Chernobyl core-collapse-plus-steam-explosion.
Unlike Europe and China, which both have centralized, comprehensive systems of rubrics designed to allow AI innovation without compromising public safety, the U.S. has devolved the responsibility of defining AI governance to no less than 13 national agencies — from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the Department of Transportation (DoT). And this number doesn’t include state and local government regulators.
It's a bizarre strategy, and has left the U.S. with no agency specifically tasked with AI oversight in the nuclear industry. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the main agency responsible for regulating the overall safety and security of civilian nuclear facilities and materials, has no regulations focused on AI. At all.
The reason for this nuclear logic bomb is cultural. China and Europe have chosen to prioritize safety over speed, but the U.S. has an innovation-at-all-costs approach designed to fast-track technology and foster competition with fewer upfront restrictions. But is “move fast and break things” really the way to go when the application is nuclear energy?
The fact is, today, we don’t even really know how and why the most advanced AI models make decisions—the so-called Black Box problem.
Things will only get worse as Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and Facebook sally forth into nuclear power, armed only with egotism and huge piles of money. The hyperscalers are vehemently opposed to any regulation and once they are in the nuclear game will absolutely employ their vast financial resources on legal battles to prevent restrictions on AI usage.
And don’t expect the U.S. government to step in to save us from the fallout of all this stupidity. It can’t even work out how to stop disturbed adolescents from shooting pre-schoolers with military-grade assault rifles. The chances that any U.S. administration will do anything coherent about the nuclear AI free-for-all are ground zero.
ABOUT THE FOLLOWING ACCESS TO “LLAW’S ALL THINGS NUCLEAR” RELATED MEDIA”:
There are 7 categories, with the latest addition, (#7) being a Friday weekly roundup of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) global nuclear news stories. Also included is a bonus non-nuclear category for news about the Yellowstone caldera and other volcanic and caldera activity around the world that play an important role in humanity’s lives. The feature categories provide articles and information about ‘all things nuclear’ for you to pick from, usually with up to 3 links with headlines concerning the most important media stories in each category, but sometimes fewer and occasionally even none (especially so with the Yellowstone Caldera). The Categories are listed below in their usual order:
All Things Nuclear
Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power Emergencies
Nuclear War
Nuclear War Threats
Yellowstone Caldera (Note: There are two Yellowstone Caldera bonus stories available in this evening’s Post.)
IAEA Weekly News (Friday’s only)
Whenever there is an underlined link to a Category media news story, if you press or click on the link provided, you no longer have to cut and paste to your web browser, since this Post’s link will take you directly to the article in your browser.
A current Digest of major nuclear media headlines with automated links is listed below by nuclear Category (in the above listed order). If a Category heading does not appear in the daily news Digest, it means there was no news reported from this Category today. Generally, the three best articles in each Category from around the nuclear world(s) are Posted. Occasionally, if a Post is important enough, it may be listed in multiple Categories.
TODAY’S NUCLEAR WORLD’S NEWS, Tuesday, (10/22/2024)
All Things Nuclear
NEWS
Global nuclear capacity must triple to meet climate goals: World Nuclear Association - YouTube
YouTube
... 31:25 · Go to channel. Bob Woodward on Trump, Harris, and war in Ukraine | All Things Considered | NPR. NPR New 172K views · 20:07 · Go to channel ...
What is Big Tech's rush to nuclear power telling us? - Finshots
Finshots
Cut to today, nuclear power contributes to about 20% of all electricity in the US. So, what changed? Enter Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), which ...
Nuclear-Powered AI: Big Tech's Bold Solution or a Pipedream? - WSJ
Wall Street Journal
Under the deal's terms, Google committed to backing about seven reactors to be built by nuclear-energy startup Kairos Power. The goal is to add 500 ...
Nuclear Power
NEWS
Three Mile Island nuclear plant gears up for Big Tech reboot | Reuters
Reuters
Giant cooling towers at Constellation Energy's Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania have sat dormant for so long that grass has sprung ...
Nuclear-Powered AI: Big Tech's Bold Solution or a Pipedream? - WSJ
Wall Street Journal
Amazon, Google and Microsoft are investing billions in nuclear power, but the projects are years away and rely on unproven technology.
Rundown: All nuclear plants extended, revived, or planned as energy demand soars
Washington Examiner
Nuclear power has seen a revival throughout 2024, thanks in large part to soaring energy demand from the tech sector. At least two retired plants ...
Nuclear Power Emergencies
NEWS
Drones, robot dogs debut in radiation accident emergency drill - Global Times
Global Times
Wu Mingming, a deputy director of the Health, Safety and Environment Department at State Nuclear Power Plant Service Co Ltd, told The Paper that ...
Gov't proposes state monopoly on nuclear power investment - VOV
VOV
... nuclear power plants, citing the need to ensure national energy security ... emergency power sources and grids, power transmission networks ...
Kyslytsya at the UN Security Council called on states to prevent RF attacks on nuclear power ... - 112
112
Specifically, air strikes on energy facilities threaten the electricity supply necessary for the operation of cooling systems at nuclear power plants.
Nuclear War
NEWS
Ireland and NZ co-sponsor UN resolution calling for study on effects of nuclear war
Toda Peace Institute
The last such UN study was in 1988, more than 30 years ago. The UN resolution “Nuclear War Effects and Scientific Research” is sponsored by Ireland ...
Remarks in Kyiv by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on Ukraine's Fight for Freedom ...
Department of Defense
And I'd like to start by echoing the words of President Kennedy in his historic 1963 speech in Berlin. There are some who say that they don't ...
Remarks by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on Ukraine's Fight for Freedom (As Delivered)
Department of Defense
And the Kremlin started the largest war in Europe since World War ... And even as Putin makes profoundly reckless and dangerous threats about nuclear ...
Nuclear War Threats
NEWS
Middle East crisis live: Iran warns UN about Israel's threats against its nuclear sites
The Guardian
“Threats to attack nuclear sites are against UN resolutions …. And are ... The WHO Europe has already facilitated 600 medical evacuations from Gaza to ...
Ukraine Can Go Nuclear — Should it? - CEPA
CEPA
It's far from an idle threat, as most NATO governments will know. Not only does Ukraine have extensive civil nuclear facilities and supplies, it also ...
Nuclear Arms Control Initiatives Detached From International Security Realities 'Are Like ...
Meetings Coverage and Press Releases - the United Nations
... nuclear war. Iran's representative spoke about the United Kingdom's new ... He deemed unacceptable the Russian Federation's threats to nuclear
Yellowstone Caldera
NEWS
Yellowstone's Ebbing Nuphar Lake - National Parks Traveler
National Parks Traveler
Editor's note:Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.
Light Mag. 3.0 Earthquake - Alboran Sea, 40 km Northeast of Al Hoceima, Tanger-Tetouan ...
Volcano Discovery
... caldera and picturesque villages. Discover its fascinating ... Yellowstone quakes · Yellowstone quakes · Latest earthquakes under Yellowstone volcano