Skynet around the corner? The USAF and the US Space Force want AI to control nuclear weapons.
Although it has long been a global threat in science fiction, U.S. Air Force and Space Force officials see artificial intelligence (AI) playing important, if not critical, roles in the command and control effort at the heart of America's nuclear deterrence capabilities.
Artificial intelligence can help speed up decision-making cycles and ensure that orders reach their destination as quickly and safely as possible. It could also be used to assist staff tasked with other tasks, from information processing to managing maintenance and logistics. The same officials emphasize that man will always have to be involved or at least involved, and that a machine alone will never be able to decide the use of nuclear weapons.
A group of Air Force and Space Force officials spoke about how artificial intelligence could be used to support what is formally called the nuclear command, control, and communications ( NC3) architecture during a panel discussion at the Air & Space Forces Association's 2025 Warfare Symposium . The current NC3 enterprise consists of a vast array of communications and other systems on the surface, in the air, and in space, designed to ensure that a U.S. nuclear attack can be carried out at any time, regardless of circumstances.
An unclassified, now dated, graphic showing only a portion of the elements that make up the NC3 undertaking, giving a good sense of its scale and scope. USAF
“If we don't think about AI and take it into account, we're going to lose, and I'm not interested in losing,” Maj. Gen. Ty Neuman, director of strategic plans, programs and requirements for Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), said yesterday. “So we absolutely have to find a solution.”
“AI needs to be part of what the next generation NC3 architecture will be. We have to be smart about how we use this technology,” Neuman continued. “Certainly speed is probably the most critical aspect. There will be tons of data and with digital architectures, resilient architectures and things like that, we need to take advantage of the speed of data processing.”
Neuman also outlined the role of artificial intelligence as a tool for secure communications. “The way I would imagine this happening in the communications world would be the use of AI to – if a message or communication is sent from the National Command Authority to a shooter, the AI would have to be able to determine what the fastest and safest route is to get that message from the decision maker to the shooter,” the general explained. “As a human operator in a communications system in today's world, I'm not going to be able to determine what the safest and most secure route is, because there's going to be, you know, signals going in 100 different directions. Some may be compromised. Others may not be affected. I won't be able to determine that, so AI has to be part of it.”
The National Command Authority is the mechanism through which the president of the United States orders a nuclear strike, a process you can read about in detail here . America currently has a nuclear triad of “launchers ” consisting of B-2 and B-52 bombers, silo-based Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and Ohio- class ballistic submarines. The Air Force's F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jets, as well as at least some F-35A Joint Strike Fighters and F-16 Viper fighters, can also carry B61 tactical nuclear bombs .
A chart that offers a basic look at the elements of the NC3 architecture and the “launchers” of the current nuclear triad. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
AI could be valuable in the NC3 enterprise even beyond aiding decision-making and communications.
“We can analyze historical data and identify trends, and these AI tools could be used predictively. We could use them on our systems to proactively manage, such as system maintenance, to schedule system upgrades and to reduce the risks of unexpected outages,” Col. said. Ryan Rose, deputy director for military communications and positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) at Space Systems Command, another panelist. “Additionally, cybersecurity data or trends, or the ability to see what our adversaries are doing, could be useful to decision makers.”
Although only made in passing, Rose's comment on cybersecurity offers notable insight into how AI could be useful in helping defend networks like the NC3 architecture , both in the cyber domain and in the radio frequency (RF) spectrum.
The nuclear decision-making space has always been characterized by short timescales, even when it comes to safely disseminating nuclear attack orders. For decades now it has been known that the president has at most tens of minutes, if not much less , to explore the available courses of action and choose one or more of them to execute once an incoming nuclear threat has been identified and positively identified. Many of these courses of action would only be feasible in certain time windows, and any disruption to the decision-making process would have devastating consequences.
WOPR, the artificial intelligence from the 1983 film "war games".
The Department of Defense is already looking to integrate AI-driven capabilitiesinto other areas of decision-making , including at the tactical level. AI tools are already being used to help monitor national airspace and process intelligence , as well as assist in maintenance, logistics and other maintenance-related functions .
At the same time, concerns have been raised about the accuracy of the models on which current AI-driven capabilities are based, and the idea of automating anything to do with nuclear weapons is particularly sensitive . Science fiction and other realms of popular culture are also full of stories in which turning over aspects of America's nuclear arsenal to a machine leads to or threatens to lead to an apocalypse. The 1983 film WarGames presented a reality in which an AI (see how the concept comes from afar) took control of nuclear warheads to end a game.
The Terminator franchise – starting with the 1984 film of the same name , but best emphasized by the opening scene of the 1991 sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day 2 – are prime examples of envisioning an AI, Skynet, willingly taking control of nuclear weapons to destroy humanity.
everyone claims that, however, a human being will always remain "in the loop" of decision-making when it comes to nuclear weapons .
In any discussion, all parties, while very keen to have AI as an element of the decision-making chain, agree on the following points:
- Need for Human in the Loop: All speakers agreed on the critical importance of maintaining human control in nuclear decision making. They explained that no matter how advanced AI is, its reliability depends on the quality of the data it is fed. Corrupted data could lead to unreliable output, making human oversight essential to ensure the accuracy of the information.
- AI as a Decision Support Tool: AI is seen as a powerful tool to process large amounts of data, provide rapid analysis, and support military leaders in making more informed and timely decisions. However, it is not designed to replace human judgment in the final decision on the use of nuclear weapons.
- Reassurance to the Public: Lieutenant General Gebara specifically reassured the public, stating that the final decision on the use of nuclear weapons will always be made by a human being, specifically the President of the United States. This is to address concerns that AI could lead to autonomous and potentially dangerous decisions in the nuclear field.
The problem is that even the "man in the loop", the human passage in nuclear communication, is effective on the basis of the information he has which conditions his behavior . If the human passage also has information distorted by the AI, its effectiveness will also be canceled.
Skynet is around the corner.
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The Skynet article around the corner? The USAF and the US Space Force want AI to control nuclear weapons. comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/skynet-dietro-langolo-la-usaf-e-lo-us-space-force-vogliono-la-ai-pare-del-controllo-delle-armi-nucleari/ on Fri, 07 Mar 2025 20:56:09 +0000.