4 ms·
I don't even think you need a hostile actor, you could just have an incompetent actor who flips the sign on a value, and instead of designing a biological agent
by qq66 5y ago
I don't even think you need a hostile actor, you could just have an incompetent actor who flips the sign on a value, and instead of designing a biological agent to maximize wheat production, designs one that minimizes wheat production, and ends up exterminating all global wheat.
- spicybright 5y agoTo be fair, at least for your example, you'd need a really long chain of incompetent actors to kill off wheat. We should really be scared of the lone and bored grad student making a wheat killer and accidentally dropping the test tube.
- astrange 5y agoI'd be more worried about someone developing a plastic-recycling microbe that works too well. There's already lots of viruses that attack plants, but the plants have immune systems for that.
- echelon 5y agoDegrading plastics would be a nasty one. On the topic of plants, instead of attacking crops directly, attack mycorrhiza. Plants can't get nutrients without them.
- webmaven 5y ago> I'd be more worried about someone developing a plastic-recycling microbe that works too well. See the 2007 novel Ill Wind by Kevin Anderson and Doug Beason for an exploration of this scenario: https://books.google.com/books/about/Ill_Wind.html?id=wWIgO72HZXoC https://books.google.com/books/about/Ill_Wind.html?id=wWIgO7...