nuclear-news

TODAY. What’s the connection between the UK Post Office scandal and   Soviet Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov?

Well, nothing really. But we need to remember what Stanislav Petrov did. On September 26, 1983, Petrov, in charge of the Soviet Union’s nuclear missile system, received the computer screen order to “Launch”. The system reported that a total of five Minuteman ICBMs had been launched by the USA. Soviet nuclear doctrine called for a full nuclear retaliation. Petrov had to make an instant decision. But he feared that it was a false alarm. He disobeyed the order.

The outcome proved that Petrov was correct, and nuclear armageddon was avoided.

So, faulty technology caused a terrible danger – and one man had the integrity to doubt the digital message, and to act on his doubt.

Contrast this with the actions of Post Office and  Fujitsu authorities who covered up and lied about the faulty Horizon IT system. That resulted in 900 false convictions, 4 suicides, and hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives ruined.

In both cases, it was a failure of digital technology.

Now, as we plunge in to the Age of Artificial Intelligence, there is the frightening potential for more digital failures, – and worse, for human error, or even malevolence, in setting up AI programmes.

We need, as never before, people like Stanislav Petrov – people with the scepticism and the integrity - to not blindly comply with technocratic wizardry. The very recent, and still ongoing British Post Office scandal is a worrying reminder of the prevailing view about “not rocking the boat”. The boat may be sinking.

February 1, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Christina's notes