A framework to support evaluation of risks, derivation of indicators, and identification of potential threats associated with new artificial intelligence tools created for the design and modification of biological molecules and organisms.
Informing Threat Awareness at the Nexus of Artificial Intelligence and Biotechnology
Download White Paper
Two increasingly powerful technologies—artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology—have emerged as transformative forces in the 21st century. As separate disciplines, AI and biotechnology each promise unprecedented advancements in many fields, including medicine, agriculture, energy, and the life sciences, but their impact is even more significant when considered in combination.
These technologies represent a prototypical dual use dilemma, and their misuse, when employed together, could have profound implications for America’s national security, public health, and economic competitiveness.
Here, we aim to capture and contextualize the current moment (early 2024) of AI and biotechnology convergence; evaluate the technological and sociological aspects of misuse; provide an initial framework intended to support the evaluation of associated risks; and derive suggested indicators intended to inform the U.S. Government's horizon scanning and threat identification efforts.
This report focuses on the ability of AI-based tools to enable, enhance, or hasten the generation of biothreat agents, not to disseminate or use those agents.