The Scientists Who Understood Their Obligation to Humanity
Nuclear experts demanded limits on the atomic bomb. AI developers should follow that example.
J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, spent years wrestling with the conflict between his science and the dictates of his conscience. In part because he publicly expressed his concerns about the hydrogen bomb and a nuclear arms race, Oppenheimer—the subject of a new biopic—ended his career as a martyr in Cold War politics. Fortunately, many other early nuclear experts, including the University of Chicago scientists who first produced a chain reaction, felt an obligation to help prevent the misuse of atomic science. These scientists understood something that today’s pioneers in artificial intelligence and genetic engineering also need to recognize: The people who usher revolutionary advances into the world have
