3 ms·
AI drug algorithms can be flipped to invent bioweapons
- jleyank 5y agoDrug design systems of any kind help design drugs. If you target a disease mechanism, it’s a medicine. If you target a pest, it’s a pesticide. If you target an unwanted plant, it’s a herbicide. Interrupting or augmenting a biological response can be both good and bad. Trying to find similar compounds is neutral, merely duplicating your starting choice. Where do you think chemical weapons came from other than drug design?
- jaynetics 5y agoI guess the worry is that ML could speed up the discovery of new compounds in a way that makes it really hard to keep up in terms of banning and tracing precursors, detecting usage in assassinations, etc.
- jleyank 5y agoThat horse left the barn generations ago. The only real need for new chemical weapons are to evade detector systems as toxicity and stability are already sufficient. It’s just “traditional drug design” with slick marketing.