Giving Compass' Take:

• Nature journal sounds the alarm about the growing threat of cyberattacks and how regulating artificial intelligence can mitigate risk and improve international relations.

• How closely do organizations monitor the use of AI — and what rules or laws would be realistic to implement? NGOs and policymakers can lead the way in calling for more transparency.

• Of course, AI can be a force for good in this world. Here's how it can shape the future of higher education.

By the end of this decade, many countries plan to deploy AI for national cyberdefense; for example, the United States has been evaluating the use of autonomous defense systems and is expected to issue a report on its strategy next month. AI makes deterrence possible because attacks can be punished4. Algorithms can identify the source and neutralize it without having to identify the actor behind it. Currently, countries hesitate to push back because they are unsure who is responsible, given that campaigns may be waged through third-party computers and often use common software.

The risk is a cyber arms race. As states use increasingly aggressive AI-driven strategies, opponents will respond ever more fiercely. Such a vicious cycle might lead ultimately to a physical attack.

Cyberspace is a domain of warfare, and AI is a new defense capability. Regulations are thus necessary for state use of AI, as they are for other military domains — air, sea, land and space. Criteria are needed to determine proportional responses, as well as to set clear thresholds or "red lines" for distinguishing legal and illegal cyberattacks, and to apply appropriate sanctions for illegal acts. In each case, unilateral approaches will be ineffective. Rather, an international doctrine must be defined for state action in cyberspace. Alarmingly, international efforts to regulate cyber conflicts have stalled.

We call on regional forums, such as NATO and the European Union, to revive efforts and prepare the ground for an initiative led by the United Nations. In the meantime, computer experts must be transparent about problems, limitations and shortcomings of using AI for defense.

Read the full article about regulating AI to avert cyber attacks by Mariarosaria Taddeo and Luciano Floridi at Nature Research.