In a new book about the effects of AI technology on warfare, there is an exciting anecdote. According to it, soldiers outsmarted an AI system by using an ancient trick from Metal Gear Solid. They only needed a cardboard box for this.
The recognized military expert Paul Scharre will publish his new book “Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” in February.
An author from the US magazine “The Economist” has already had a look at it and shared some passages on Twitter (via twitter.com).
Included is a story that shows that AI is far from being able to take over our world like in Terminator. Because apparently, a cardboard box is enough to outsmart even modern military AIs.
Somersaults, Cardboard Boxes, Fir Trees – AI Can Be Outwitted
What is behind this? As the US site Kotaku reports, there is an anecdote in the book about the test of an AI system (via kotaku.com). Soldiers were supposed to circle an AI-controlled robot for a few days so that engineers could improve the system’s targeting with the data.
After a few days, the responsible parties tried something new. Instead of just moving in circles around the device, the soldiers were to attempt to reach the robot without being detected.
Little spoiler: All 8 soldiers managed to evade detection by the system.
Two soldiers decided to outsmart the robot by doing somersaults. They covered 300 meters in this way. One soldier pretended to be a fir tree – using a few branches and moving very slowly towards the target.
And then there was the trick from Metal Gear Solid. Two soldiers hid under a large cardboard box and moved together towards the robot. In the book, someone who was apparently there reports: “You could hear them giggling the whole time.”
The cardboard trick or the “Orange Box” already existed in the first part of the “Metal Gear” series from 1987. The trick has apparently aged remarkably well.
The AI in the story was programmed to recognize people walking or running. It shows how limited even modern systems still are in their designated tasks.
Surely reassuring for some who regularly suffer from Skynet nightmares. One can be almost certain that Arnold Schwarzenegger, with enough oil on his muscles, can get past any AI. At least for now.
If you want to read more about current AI systems, then check this out: What is ChatGPT? Everything you need to know about the AI from OpenAI
