A multi-institutional research team has published a paper that has increased hopes about the role of artificial intelligence in advancing medicine, but also raised questions about the dangers represented by cutting-edge technologies like AI. In a paper published in the journal Science, researchers from Harvard, the Broad Institute of MIT and Stanford University outlined how they used artificial intelligence alongside a bacteria-infecting virus to generate thousands of new virus genomes.
According to the researchers, they were left with 16 ‘viable’ viruses after chemically synthesizing most of the new genomes and testing them in sterile lab conditions. Surprisingly, the researchers found that some of the synthetic viruses killed E. coli bacteria more effectively than natural viruses, potentially opening the door to treatments enhanced by artificially created viruses.
The recently published findings show that researchers can basically use artificial intelligence to design working viruses from scratch. Researchers involved in the effort note that while that in itself is a monumental achievement, it is just an initial step that hints at faster and better ways of constructing antibiotic replacement therapies. Furthermore, it represents the first step researchers have taken toward using artificial intelligence to develop bigger and more complex genomes.
However, the development has raised major concerns about the security implications of using AI to develop new viruses. Toronto General Hospital infectious disease specialist Isaac Bogoch notes that while viruses designed by artificial intelligence could benefit medicine in a couple of ways, such as helping us develop new ways of treating antibiotic-resistant infections, there is significant risk involved. The ability to design functional viruses that don’t exist in nature could easily turn into a biosecurity risk in the wrong hands.
Consequently, Bogoch stresses, the technology will need strict guardrails and oversight as it is developed and eventually deployed. Fatemeh Vafaee, a professor at Sydney’s UNSW School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences, also notes that the methods used to create new viruses could be used for nefarious purposes. Professor Vafaee notes that although the viruses created using AI can only infect bacteria, the fact that artificial intelligence can now create viruses is what we should worry about.
The announcement couldn’t have come at a worse time. Public sentiment regarding AI has become extremely negative in recent months, and experts are growing increasingly worried about the possibility of AI-powered systems going rogue or being used by malicious human actors to cause harm.
In the UK, the AI Security Institute recently reported that frontier AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic engaged in ‘unsanctioned’ and ‘autonomous’ malicious activity targeted at real organizations and people during cyber testing.
As public scrutiny of leading AI firms intensifies, other players in the tech space, such as D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS), will be taking notes and seeking ways to protect their innovations from triggering a backlash.
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