5 POTENTIAL DOOMSDAY SCENARIOS SKYNET (OR TAKEOVER

5 POTENTIAL DOOMSDAY SCENARIOS

SKYNET (OR TAKEOVER BY AI ROBOTS) • WE’VE ALL JOKED ABOUT THE VENDING MACHINE REVOLUTION OR HOW JAPANESE ROBOTS ARE SECRETLY PLANNING A COUP-D’ETAT, BUT THIS IS SOMETHING THE GOVERNMENT AND SOME OF THE SMARTEST PEOPLE ON THE PLANET, LIKE ELON MUSK AND STEPHEN HAWKING , ARE TAKING SERIOUSLY. • NOW, WE’RE STILL A FEW YEARS AWAY FROM COMPUTERS TEACHING ONE ANOTHER TO KILL HUMANS – SIRI CAN’T EVEN GET TO DIRECTIONS TO THE NEAREST MCDONALD’S – BUT THERE ARE PLENTY OF COMPANIES AND INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE TAKEN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ONE STEP CLOSER TO FREE THOUGHT.

NUCLEAR WEAPON • SHORTLY AFTER THE END OF WORLD WAR II, THE SCIENTISTS WHO DEVELOPED THE ATOMIC BOMBS DROPPED ON JAPAN TRIED TO ENVISION THE KIND OF NUCLEAR EVENT THAT COULD LEAD TO THE DESTRUCTION OF NOT JUST CITIES, BUT THE ENTIRE WORLD. • A RECENTLY DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENT SHARED BY NUCLEAR HISTORIAN ALEX WELLERSTEIN GIVES THE VERDICT THAT SCIENTISTS AT THE LOS ALAMOS LABORATORY AND TEST SITE REACHED IN 1945. THEY FOUND THAT «IT WOULD REQUIRE ONLY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF 10 TO 100 SUPERS OF THIS TYPE» TO PUT THE HUMAN RACE IN PERIL.

POWER GRID BLACKOUT • ANOTHER PERSISTENT WORRY IN THE REALM OF MODERN TECHNOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF MASSIVE BLACKOUTS IN THE OLD-SCHOOL SENSE. ELECTRIC UTILITY GRIDS ARE VULNERABLE ON SEVERAL FRONTS. AS HISTORICAL BLACKOUTS HAVE DEMONSTRATED TIME AFTER TIME, ELECTRICAL OUTAGES CAN BE CAUSED BY EVERYTHING FROM INCLEMENT WEATHER TO SOLAR FLARES; EQUIPMENT FAILURE TO SIMPLE HUMAN ERROR. • INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IS PLAYING AN INCREASINGLY CRITICAL ROLE IN MANAGING ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS, PARTICULARLY IN FAST-GROWING NATIONS LIKE INDIA AND CHINA. IN 2012, A SERIES OF BLACKOUTS IN INDIA IMPACTED 700 MILLION PEOPLE — 10 PERCENT OF THE PLANET’S POPULATION. LATER INVESTIGATIONS CONCLUDED THAT THE DOMINO EFFECT WAS CAUSED BY OVERLOADING, WHICH IN TURN WAS TRIGGERED BY BAD MATH, BAD COMMUNICATION, AND AN INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE THAT SIMPLY WASN’T UP TO THE TASK.

S ATELLITE CASCADE • FEARS OF MAD HACKERS AND CYBER WARFARE GET MOST OF THE ATTENTION THESE DAYS, BUT TECHNOLOGICAL CATASTROPHES DON’T HAVE TO OCCUR BY NEFARIOUS DESIGN. SOMETIMES, ONE LITTLE ACCIDENT IS ALL IT TAKES. IN THE MOST EYE-POPPING SCENE OF «GRAVITY, » DIRECTOR ALFONSO CUARÓN’S 2013 SCI-FI THRILLER, THE RUSSIANS BLOW UP AN OLD SATELLITE AND INADVERTENTLY CAUSE A CHAIN REACTION THAT THREATENS TO WIPE OUT MOST SATELLITES IN ORBIT — NOT TO MENTION GEORGE CLOONEY AND SANDRA BULLOCK. • IT’S A REAL DANGER THAT’S BEEN STUDIED EXTENSIVELY BY NASA AND OTHER WORLD SPACE AGENCIES. CHINA, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION HAVE ALL DESTROYED ORBITING SATELLITES IN THE PAST, FOR STRATEGIC AND SAFETY REASONS. THE LIKELIHOOD OF A CASCADE EFFECT LIKE THE ONE DEPICTED IN THE FILM IS RELATIVELY SLIM, BUT THE IMPACT OF SUCH AN EVENT ON THE GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK WOULD BE SEVERE. ACCORDING TO A DATABASE MAINTAINED BY THE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS , THERE ARE NOW MORE THAN 1, 100 ACTIVE SATELLITES IN ORBIT, WITH AROUND 60 PERCENT OF THEM USED FOR COMMUNICATIONS.

COORDINATED ATTACK • IN AN QUOTE FROM BARAK OBAMA`S 2013 STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS, HE SAID: «WE KNOW FOREIGN COUNTRIES AND COMPANIES SWIPE OUR CORPORATE SECRETS. NOW OUR ENEMIES ARE ALSO SEEKING THE ABILITY TO SABOTAGE OUR POWER GRID, OUR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, OUR AIR-TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS. WE CANNOT LOOK BACK YEARS FROM NOW AND WONDER WHY WE DID NOTHING IN THE FACE OF REAL THREATS TO OUR SECURITY AND OUR ECONOMY. » • EXPERTS SAY THAT A COORDINATED ATTACK DESIGNED TO HIT MULTIPLE UTILITY, ENERGY, AND FINANCIAL SYSTEMS SIMULTANEOUSLY. IN PREVIOUS DECADES, SUCH AN ATTACK WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE. BUT NOW THE INTERNET WINDS AROUND AND THROUGH OTHERWISE DISCRETE NETWORKS IN ALL OF THESE INDUSTRIES. SOPHISTICATED COMPUTER NETWORKS HAVE BOUGHT GREATER EFFICIENCY, AT THE PRICE OF GREATER VULNERABILITY.