Science & Technology

2663 Items

Neural net completion for "artificial intelligence"

Wikimedia Commons

Analysis & Opinions - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs

GPTs, Software Engineering, and a New Age of Hacking

| Aug. 16, 2023

ChatGPT and other natural language models have recently sparked considerable intrigue and unease. Governments and businesses are increasingly acknowledging the role of Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPTs) in shaping the cybersecurity landscape. This article discusses the implications of using GPTs in software development and the potential impact on cybersecurity in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). While GPTs can improve efficiency and productivity for programmers, they will not replace human programmers due to the complex decision-making processes involved in programming beyond simply writing code. And while they may help in finding shallow bugs to prevent short-lived vulnerabilities, GPTs are unlikely to change the balance of power between offense and defense in cybersecurity.

A lighthouse, battered by waves, sits at the center of this dark and stormy seascape.

AP Photo/Matt Dunham

Report - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Democracy and the Liberal World Order Amid the Rise of Authoritarianism

| Aug. 14, 2023

The entanglement and feedback loops among the domestic and the geopolitical cycles of distrust have resulted in a cohesive threat to democracy: a downward political spiral that is pulling societies towards enmity. This spiral feeds on and generates destructive human emotions at massive scale, such as outrage and hatred, that lead to violence, war, and autocracy, so it can be better understood as a dangerous global maelstrom of distrust, which could sink democracy worldwide. As showcased by historical evidence, domestic and international forces do not act in isolation from each other. Democratic backsliding, the rise of authoritarianism and totalitarianism, and the politics of aggression generated feedback loops in the 1930s, that resulted in WWII. Similar forces are again working in the 2020s. If massive distrust can wreck democracy worldwide, it follows that the regeneration of trust is the path to democratic revitalization.

colorful wooden game pieces clustered together

MetsikGarden/Pixabay

Analysis & Opinions - The Conversation

Re-imagining Democracy for the 21st Century, Possibly Without the Trappings of the 18th Century

| Aug. 07, 2023

The modern representative democracy was the best form of government that mid-18th-century technology could conceive of. The 21st century is a different place scientifically, technically and socially. Should we rethink the ways we govern ourselves?

A Ukrainian soldier prepares a drone on the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine.

AP Photo/Libkos

Policy Brief - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Advancing in Adversity: Ukraine’s Battlefield Technologies and Lessons for the U.S.

| July 31, 2023

This article outlines five innovative technology applications used by Ukraine and explores four key lessons for the United States, including the benefits of flexibility in public-private partnerships and the changing role of the civilian in 21st century warfare.

Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, creator of the atom bomb, is shown at his study at the Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, N.J., Dec. 15, 1957.

AP Photo/John Rooney, File

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Nuclear Insights from "Oppenheimer"

After viewing the movie OppenheimerMatthew Bunn, John P. Holdren, Mariana BudjerynMatthew J. Parent, Calder Walton, Sylvia Mishra, and Julie George offer their thoughts on its relevance to the world today.