--- title: "Harvard Researcher Warns AI Arms Race Could Destroy Civilization" description: "According to one Harvard researcher, if we don't put a lid on the US-China AI arms race soon, civilization as we know it could end up paying a hefty price." date: "2023-02-02" modified: "2023-02-02" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/harvard-researcher-us-china-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "global arms race" - "military" - "the digest" --- # Harvard Researcher Warns AI Arms Race Could Destroy Civilization ![According to one Harvard researcher, if we don't put a lid on the US-China AI arms race soon, civilization as we know it could end up paying a hefty price.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## AIrms Race The [US-China AI arms race]() is here, with both international powers vying for ultimate power over the rapidly growing — and increasingly impressive — tech. But according to one Harvard researcher, if we don't put a lid on the competition soon, civilization as we know it could end up paying a hefty price. "This competition comes with huge risks," Will Henshall, a graduate researcher studying public policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, [wrote for *The Boston Globe*](). "If the United States and China don't find ways to reduce these risks, both countries could face catastrophe." ## McSteamy Henshall's argument frames AI as the next game-changing [general-purpose technology](), and as with other general-purpose breakthroughs previously, countries will do whatever they can to establish dominance over it. In this case, as nations worldwide seek to incorporate AI further [into advanced weapons](), that means spending a lot of military money. "In fiscal year 2021, the US government spent $10.8 billion on AI R&D, $9.3 billion of which came from the Department of Defense," writes Henshall, meanwhile noting that the [US has also been movin]()g to make necessary AI-building resources like computer chips more difficult for China to get its hands on, seemingly in a means to stifle the competition. "Chinese public expenditure on AI is less transparent, but analysts estimate that it is roughly comparable." Within the context of the broader general-tech history, this is normal behavior. New inventions have always powered nations and their economies, and world powers move quickly to make sure that they reap the lion's share of the rewards, be they economic, defensive, or as in this case both. But AI could be radically different. A steam engine, the researcher's preferred foil to the threat of AI, goes from point A to B. Sure, it could crash, but not even a fleet of steam engines could unintentionally destroy entire nations, let alone civilization as a whole. AI, at least in thought experiments like the [paperclip problem](), very well could. And right now, [we just don't know enough]() about it to confidently prevent that from happening — especially in an environment where competition trumps cooperation, a system that inherently favors power and speed over precaution. And when it comes to technology this powerful — technology that again, [we don't really even understand yet]() — prioritizing precaution seems more than necessary. Perhaps, as Henshall argues, for the sake of us all. **READ MORE:** [*The steam engine changed the world. Artificial intelligence could destroy it.*]() \[*The Boston Globe*\] **More on doomsday AI:** [*Oxford Scientists Warn Ai Could Be More Deadly than Nuclear Weapons*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()