Stop the World

Superintelligence and human security, with Dan Hendrycks

Last month, some of the world’s leading artificial intelligence experts signed a petition calling for a prohibition on developing superintelligent AI until it is safe. One of those experts was Dan Hendrycks, director for the Center for AI Safety and an adviser to Elon Musk’s xAI and leading firm Scale AI. Dan has led original and thought-provoking research including into the risk of rogue AIs escaping human control, the deliberate misuse of the technology by malign actors, and the emergence of dangerous strategic dynamics if one nation creates superintelligence, prompting fears among rival nations.   In the lead-up to ASPI’s Sydney Dialogue tech and security conference [https://tsd.aspi.org.au/] in December, Dan talks about the different risks AI poses, the possibility that AI develops its own goals and values, the concept of recursion in which machines build smarter machines, definitions of artificial “general” intelligence, the shortcomings of current AIs and the inadequacy of historical analogies such as nuclear weapons in understanding risks from superintelligence.   To see some of the research discussed in today’s episode, visit the Center for AI Safety’s website here [https://safe.ai/work/research#conceptual-research].

‘We are not doing well’: Estonia’s Marko Mihkelson on democracy vs authoritarianism

Russia has more than 100 times the population of its neighbour Estonia, yet the small Baltic nation has played a clever strategic hand, wedding itself closely to NATO and the European Union, and investing in sovereign tech and security capabilities. But with Moscow pressing and testing Europe, Estonia and its neighbours are under pressure. Veteran Estonian MP and chair of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson argues democracies became too relaxed in the decades after the Cold War, with Europe disarming and the US and others assuming trade would dissuade authoritarian nations such as China from conflict.  Democracies today need to stick together, he says in this wide-ranging conversation, especially by supporting Ukraine. Marko talks about the ways authoritarians are exploiting polarisation in democracies and seeking to end the western-led liberal order. He explains why he believes imperialism has become ingrained in Russia over centuries. And if the likes of Estonia are to avoid a repeat of the half-century of occupation of Russian occupation they experienced during the Cold War, Russia must be utterly defeated.

Albo meets Trump, Putin finally cops it and superintelligence hits the headlines

What a week! And some of it was actually good news! Justin and Dave pull apart the latest events, starting with PM Anthony Albanese’s all-consuming meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House. After all the jangled nerves, it went rather well, but what does the critical minerals deal mean in geopolitical terms? Is AUKUS really safe? And just what did Navy Secretary John Phelan mean about clarifying ambiguities in the trilateral agreement?   Justin and Dave discuss Trump’s confidence that Chinese leader Xi Jinping won’t move against Taiwan any time soon, the upcoming meeting between the two leaders on the side of APEC in Seoul, and the much-welcomed new sanctions an increasingly impatient Trump has slapped on an infuriatingly recalcitrant Russian leader Vladimir Putin.   Finally, they discuss Dave’s favourite story of the week: an open letter calling for a pause on the development of superintelligent AI, the pros and cons of the movement, and the surprising signatories.

Russian mind games: strategic comms guru Natalia Solieva on Moscow’s attempts to gaslight the world

In today’s episode, Natalia Solieva, former spokesperson at Ukraine’s Embassy in Washington and an expert on Russian information operations, analyses Moscow’s wartime gaslighting (and not in the sense of its dwindling energy exports to Europe.) Natalia, now a resident in the United States, has studied extensively the battle of narratives over Moscow’s war against Ukraine. She explains the Ukrainian people’s hard-earned resilience to Russian disinformation, the weapons of influence Moscow has deployed against the US, the reassuring levels of American public support for Ukraine, Russia’s use of cognitive warfare and its attempts to intimidate Europe, the precarious state of the global information environment and the best ways to defend against disinformation. Natalia also shares with us her favourite Winston Churchill quote.

Europe’s evolving Indo-Pacific strategy, with Special Envoy Paola Pampaloni

Though it’s on the opposite side of the world, Europe is vital to Australia’s security, not just because of our shared values but also because of the continent’s role in supporting Ukraine’s resistance against Russia’s aggression—arguably the test case for future global order.   Today, senior European Union diplomat Paola Pampaloni tells Stop the World about progress on the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy amid rapid shifts in geopolitics. Paola, who is the EU’s Special Envoy for the Indo-Pacific and Acting Managing Director of the European External Action Service for the Asia-Pacific, talks about the proposed Australia-EU defence and security agreement, difficulties with the free trade agreement and the strategic importance of rules-based trade. She discusses cooperation in strategic sectors such as critical minerals, the risks of dependency on China and the broader question of economic security. She addresses the reality that China is enabling Russia’s war against Ukraine, and also covers Taiwan, EU defence spending, the authoritarian axis, the US under Donald Trump and technology cooperation with the Indo-Pacific.