The overarching question imparting urgency to this exploration is: Can U.S.-Russian contention in cyberspace cause the two nuclear superpowers to stumble into war? In considering this question we were constantly reminded of recent comments by a prominent U.S. arms control expert: At least as dangerous as the risk of an actual cyberattack, he observed, is cyber operations’ “blurring of the line between peace and war.” Or, as Nye wrote, “in the cyber realm, the difference between a weapon and a non-weapon may come down to a single line of code, or simply the intent of a computer program’s user.”
Biography
Nicole Thomasian is a joint Master of Public Policy and Medical Degree candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School and Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School. She graduated with honors from Brown University with a BS in Neuroscience. Prior to matriculating at the Warren Alpert Medical School, Nicole studied neural rewiring following stroke as a Fulbright Fellow in Japan. During her time in medical school, Nicole worked on the development of clinical AI and big-data algorithms at the Brown Radiology Artificial Intelligence Lab and Lifespan-Brown Center for Digital Health. Nicole’s research focus is on the development, clinical integration, and regulation of artificial intelligence and digital health technologies. Moving forward, she plans to continue taking on projects to optimize technology at the systems interface to augment clinical workflow and to promote health security.
Last Updated: Aug 5, 2022, 10:54am