AN ABSENCE OF MALICE: COMPUTERS AND ARMAGEDDON

Morrison, Perry R.

doi:10.1080/08109028408629567

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AN ABSENCE OF MALICE: COMPUTERS AND ARMAGEDDON

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Author(s): Perry R. Morrison

Publication date (Print): December 1984

Journal: Prometheus

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: computers, computer error, nuclear war

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Abstract

This paper addresses the impact of computers on the nuclear arms race and argues that improvements in computer technology have directly led to the diminishing warning and decision period available to human commanders in the event of an accidental outbreak of nuclear war. To support this thesis, a brief and general history of the application of computers to strategic weapons systems is given and evidence is presented which confirms the unreliability and error proneness of current computer-based weapons control systems. The main point of discussion however, involves an emerging proposal to completely automate the strategic systems of the United States and the associated problems and dangers, given present inadequacies.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (publisher-id): cpro20

Journal ID (archive): CPRO

Title: Prometheus

Subtitle: Critical Studies in Innovation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 0810-9028

ISSN (Electronic): 1470-1030

Publication date (Print): December 1984

Volume: 2

Issue: 2

Pages: 190-200

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Article

Publisher ID: 8629567 Coden ID: Prometheus, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1984: pp. 190–200

DOI: 10.1080/08109028408629567

SO-VID: 84661a3a-29dc-493c-9fc3-092d1d300b0a

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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Figures: 0, Tables: 0, References: 33, Pages: 11

NOTES AND REFERENCES

Miller D.M.O., Kennedy W.V., Jordan J. and Richardson D.. 1981. . The Balance of Military Power . , London : : Lansdowne Press. .
Smith R.J.. 1984. . Missile deployments roil Europe. . Science . , Vol. 223:: 371––376. .
Smith R.J.. 1984. . Missile deployment shakes European polities. . Science . , Vol. 223:: 665––667. .
Steinbruner J.. 1984. . Launch under attack. . Scientific American . , Vol. 250((1)): 23––33. .
Smith R.J.. 1982. . Pentagon moves towards first strike capability. . Science . , Vol. 216:: 596––598. .
Beardon C.. 1983. . “The last bug in the world. ”. In New Zealand Interface . p. 33––34. .
Verity J.W.. 1984. . “Nuclear war and the computer. ”. In Datamation . p. 50––61. .
Beardon C.. 1984. . The use of computers in weapons systems . International Federation of Information Processing Societies
Hart G. and Goldwater B.. 1980. . Recent False Alerts from the Nation's Missile Attack Warning System . , Washington D.C. : : United States Senate Committee on Armed Services. .
Beardon. . 1984. . op. cit.
Kochen M.. 1983. . “Information and society. ”. In Annual Review of Information Science and Technology . , Edited by: Williams M.E.. Vol. Vol. 18. , p. 279––304. . Knowledge Industry Publications for American Society for Information Science. .
Peterson I.. October, 1983. . “Superweapon software woes. ”. In Electronics Australia . p. 12––14. .
Broad W.J.. 1980. . Computers and the US military don't mix. . Science . , Vol. 216:: 599––602. .
Hoare C.A.R.. 1981. . The emperor's old clothes. . Byte . , Vol. 6((9)): 414––425. .
Manuel T. and Evanczuk S.. November, 1983. . “Artificial intelligence: commercial products from decades of research. ”. In Electronics . p. 127––137. .
Duda R.O. and Shortliffe E.H.. 1983. . Expert systems research. . Science . , Vol. 220:: 261––268. .
Garfield E.. 1983. . Artificial intelligence: using computers to think about thinking’, Part 2. . Current Contents . , Vol. 52:: 5––17. .
Michaelson R. and Michie D.. November, 1983. . “Expert systems in business. ”. In Datamation . p. 240––246. .
Miller R.A., Pople H.E. and Myers J.D.. 1982. . Internist-I, an experimental computer based diagnostic consultant for general internal medicine. . New England Journal of Medicine . , Vol. 307:: 468––476. .
Lindsay R.K., Buchanan B.G., Feigenbaum E.A. and Lederberg J.. 1980. . Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Chemical Inference: The DENDRAL Project . , New York : : McGraw-Hill. .
Duda R., Gaschnig J. and Hart P.. 1979. . “Model design in the PROSPECTOR consultant system for mineral exploration. ”. In Expert Systems in the Microelectronic Age . , Edited by: Michie D.. p. 153––167. . Edinburgh, Scotland : : Edinburgh University Press. .
Pratt C.. 1984. . An artificially intelligent locomotive mechanic. . Simulation . , Vol. 42((1)): 40––41. .
Schatz W. and Verity J.. February, 1984. . “DARPA's big push in AI. ”. In Datamation . p. 48––50. .
Rosenberg R.. April 19, 1984. . Pentagon shopping for walking vehicle. . Electronics . , : 56
Smith R.J.. 1983. . The search for nuclear sanctuary (I). . Science . , Vol. 221:: 30––32. .
Smith R.J.. 1983. . The search for nuclear sanctuary (II). . Science . , Vol. 221:: 133––136. .
op. cit.
Bereanu B.. 1983. . Self-activation of the world nuclear weapons system. . Journal of Peace Research . , Vol. 20((1)): 49––57. .
Beardon. . 1984. . op. cit.
Verity. . op. cit.
Jacky J.. 1984. . The use and misuse of new technologies. . Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery . , Vol. 27((6)): 526––527. .
Schell J.. 1982. . The Fate of the Earth . , London : : Picador. .
Kidron M. and Smith D.. 1983. . The War Atlas — Armed Conflict, Armed Peace . , London : : Pan Books. .

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Miller D.M.O., Kennedy W.V., Jordan J. and Richardson D.. 1981. . The Balance of Military Power . , London : : Lansdowne Press. .

[2] Smith R.J.. 1984. . Missile deployments roil Europe. . Science . , Vol. 223:: 371––376. .

[3] Smith R.J.. 1984. . Missile deployment shakes European polities. . Science . , Vol. 223:: 665––667. .

[4] Steinbruner J.. 1984. . Launch under attack. . Scientific American . , Vol. 250((1)): 23––33. .

[5] Smith R.J.. 1982. . Pentagon moves towards first strike capability. . Science . , Vol. 216:: 596––598. .

[6] Beardon C.. 1983. . “The last bug in the world. ”. In New Zealand Interface . p. 33––34. .

[7] Verity J.W.. 1984. . “Nuclear war and the computer. ”. In Datamation . p. 50––61. .

[8] Beardon C.. 1984. . The use of computers in weapons systems . International Federation of Information Processing Societies

[9] Hart G. and Goldwater B.. 1980. . Recent False Alerts from the Nation's Missile Attack Warning System . , Washington D.C. : : United States Senate Committee on Armed Services. .

[10] Beardon. . 1984. . op. cit.

[11] Kochen M.. 1983. . “Information and society. ”. In Annual Review of Information Science and Technology . , Edited by: Williams M.E.. Vol. Vol. 18. , p. 279––304. . Knowledge Industry Publications for American Society for Information Science. .

[12] Peterson I.. October, 1983. . “Superweapon software woes. ”. In Electronics Australia . p. 12––14. .

[13] Broad W.J.. 1980. . Computers and the US military don't mix. . Science . , Vol. 216:: 599––602. .

[14] Hoare C.A.R.. 1981. . The emperor's old clothes. . Byte . , Vol. 6((9)): 414––425. .

[15] Manuel T. and Evanczuk S.. November, 1983. . “Artificial intelligence: commercial products from decades of research. ”. In Electronics . p. 127––137. .

[16] Duda R.O. and Shortliffe E.H.. 1983. . Expert systems research. . Science . , Vol. 220:: 261––268. .

[17] Garfield E.. 1983. . Artificial intelligence: using computers to think about thinking’, Part 2. . Current Contents . , Vol. 52:: 5––17. .

[18] Michaelson R. and Michie D.. November, 1983. . “Expert systems in business. ”. In Datamation . p. 240––246. .

[19] Miller R.A., Pople H.E. and Myers J.D.. 1982. . Internist-I, an experimental computer based diagnostic consultant for general internal medicine. . New England Journal of Medicine . , Vol. 307:: 468––476. .

[20] Lindsay R.K., Buchanan B.G., Feigenbaum E.A. and Lederberg J.. 1980. . Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Chemical Inference: The DENDRAL Project . , New York : : McGraw-Hill. .

[21] Duda R., Gaschnig J. and Hart P.. 1979. . “Model design in the PROSPECTOR consultant system for mineral exploration. ”. In Expert Systems in the Microelectronic Age . , Edited by: Michie D.. p. 153––167. . Edinburgh, Scotland : : Edinburgh University Press. .

[22] Pratt C.. 1984. . An artificially intelligent locomotive mechanic. . Simulation . , Vol. 42((1)): 40––41. .

[23] Schatz W. and Verity J.. February, 1984. . “DARPA's big push in AI. ”. In Datamation . p. 48––50. .

[24] Rosenberg R.. April 19, 1984. . Pentagon shopping for walking vehicle. . Electronics . , : 56

[25] Smith R.J.. 1983. . The search for nuclear sanctuary (I). . Science . , Vol. 221:: 30––32. .

[26] Smith R.J.. 1983. . The search for nuclear sanctuary (II). . Science . , Vol. 221:: 133––136. .

[27] op. cit.

[28] Bereanu B.. 1983. . Self-activation of the world nuclear weapons system. . Journal of Peace Research . , Vol. 20((1)): 49––57. .

[29] Beardon. . 1984. . op. cit.

[30] Verity. . op. cit.

[31] Jacky J.. 1984. . The use and misuse of new technologies. . Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery . , Vol. 27((6)): 526––527. .

[32] Schell J.. 1982. . The Fate of the Earth . , London : : Picador. .

[33] Kidron M. and Smith D.. 1983. . The War Atlas — Armed Conflict, Armed Peace . , London : : Pan Books. .

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