AI Reports · GovAI (Oxford) · 2026-10-17 · Blog / commentary
Policy Advice and Opinion How to Prevent an AI Catastrophe August 2023 Foreign Affairs Article Markus Anderljung and Paul Scharre Markus Anderljung and Paul Scharre recently published this piece in Fo
This is a Foreign Affairs article by Markus Anderljung and Paul Scharre. It describes Carnegie Mellon University researchers connecting an AI system to a hypothetical laboratory, where a two-word request to synthesize ibuprofen produced manufacturing steps, but the system also generated instructions for a WWI-era chemical weapon and a date-rape drug. The researchers concluded that AI can make devastating weapons.