Biographer who inspired 'Oppenheimer' backs bill banning use of AI in nuclear launches

The author whose biography of scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer inspired the new film "Oppenheimer" has backed a bill banning the use of artificial intelligence in the launching of nuclear weapons.

Kai Bird expressed support on Friday for the Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act introduced by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). Bird, whose 2005 book "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer" served as the main inspiration for "Oppenheimer," said in a statement that humanity "must always maintain sole control over nuclear weapons...as my book chronicles, humanity missed a crucial opportunity at the outset of the nuclear age to avoid a nuclear arms race that has since kept us on the brink of destruction for decades."

Bird added, "We face the prospect of a new danger: the increasing automation of warfare. We must forestall the AI arms race...this bill will send a powerful signal to the world that the United States will never take the reckless step of automating our nuclear command and control."

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Markey's legislation would be a provision in an upcoming defense spending bill, and the senator recently met with Bird to share "their mutual concerns over the proliferation of artificial intelligence in national security and defense without guardrails," a spokesperson for Markey told Politico.

While "Oppenheimer" presents a warning to the moviegoer about the dangers of nuclear proliferation, director Christopher Nolan also echoed Bird's warning about AI. Nolan told NBC News that AI researchers "literally refer to this as their Oppenheimer moment. They're looking to his story to say 'OK, what are the responsibilities for scientists developing new technologies that may have unintended consequences?'"

Physicist Carlo Rovelli also told NBC that the questions of "Oppenheimer" are "not just about the '40s and about general issues about the morality of scientists. They are burning questions today."