In his annual speech on threats to the nation, Sir Ken McCallum, the head of the UK’s intelligence service, MI5, warned that AI had the potential to “change the stakes(改变风险与利害格局)” on existing and even new bioweapons. Here we look at how AI might help in the development of bioweapons and the hurdle(障碍、难关)s that remain.
在英国情报机构军情五处（MI5）负责人肯·麦卡勒姆爵士发表的年度国家安全威胁讲话中，他警告说，人工智能有可能“改变”现有乃至新型生物武器问题的“赌注”。本文探讨AI可能如何助长生物武器的研发，以及目前仍存在的障碍。
How could AI help people make bioweapons?
AI可能如何帮助人们制造生物武器？
It depends on who wants to make them. One risk is the rogue(独行的、不受控的), unskilled bad actor(恶意行为者) or terrorist group that works from a garage laboratory. AI chatbots could help them skill up(提升技能), by compiling relevant information, planning experiments and troubleshoot(排查故障、解决问题)ing problems. It’s likely the work would focus on using existing pathogen(病原体)s and toxin(毒素)s.
这取决于想制造生物武器的是什么人。一种风险来自独狼式的、缺乏专业技能的不法分子或恐怖组织，他们在自家车库改装的实验室里活动。AI聊天机器人可以帮他们提升技能——汇总相关信息、规划实验、排查问题。这类活动很可能集中在利用现有病原体和毒素上。
The other risk comes from well-resourced(资源雄厚的) organisations and nation states that have plenty of skilled scientists, high containment(（实验室）安全隔离) laboratories and all of the equipment and reagent(试剂)s needed to work on bioweapons safely. AI tools could help researchers identify genetic tweak(微调)s to make existing pathogens more lethal(致命的), for example. This is the more immediate concern, according to Dr Filippa Lentzos, a reader in science and international security at King’s College London. “Here, AI does not remove the need for expertise, it amplifies expertise that is already there,” she says.
另一种风险来自资源雄厚的组织和民族国家——它们拥有大量训练有素的科学家、高等级生物安全实验室，以及安全开展生物武器研究所需的全部设备和试剂。例如，AI工具可以帮助研究人员找到基因层面的微调，使现有病原体更加致命。伦敦国王学院科学与国际安全专业高级讲师菲利帕·伦佐斯博士认为，这才是更紧迫的担忧。她说：“在这里，AI并没有消除对专业知识的需求，它放大的是本来就存在的专业能力。”
Have people tried using AI to make bioweapons?
是否已有人尝试用AI制造生物武器？
What else has raised concerns?
还有哪些情况引发了担忧？
What hurdles make it difficult?
哪些障碍使这件事难以实现？
What extra measures are needed?
还需要哪些额外措施？