The concept of artificial intelligence (AI) has been a long time in the works, but for Drew Miller this high-tech solution is beginning to look too much like a cutting-edge problem. Mr. Miller spoke with The Epoch Times about preparing for problems with AI technology.
“Years ago, this was still kind of off in the future, almost pie in the sky,” said Miller, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel. Miller served in the Senior Executive Service at the Pentagon during his military career.
“Usually, they over-promise on tech and under-deliver. But for AI, the last couple years has been kind of the reverse and going faster than people expected.”
One of the main problems of AI, according to Miller, is having it fall into the wrong hands for the wrong reasons. “The AI experts are all focusing on super intelligent AGI [artificial general intelligence] as a threat,” Miller said.
“But that’s a future threat. We’ve already got a horrible threat of AI—simple AI, not smarter than us in all areas—being used to bioengineer new weapons. I guarantee you that’s happening right now in North Korea, Iran, Russia, and China. You can be 100 percent positive that these nations are already using AI to develop deadly new viruses to release against enemies. Whether or not al-Qaeda is doing it is harder to guess,” he said.
Miller, who also holds a master’s degree and doctorate in public policy from Harvard University, cites the dangerous misuse of AI in his new book, “Preparing to Survive in the Age of Collapse: Political, Military, Foreign Policy, and Preparedness Reforms Vital for Our Survival.”
“It doesn’t matter if China builds it or we build it, or Iran builds it,” he said. “Whoever builds a super intelligent artificial intelligence system, it will be out on the internet. It can replicate itself and you cannot control those things. All it’s got to do is produce a poison somewhere, or design a new virus or mislead people working with bad guys, and it can exterminate potentially all of us.”
Bad Government Policies
Miller admitted his alarmist views aren’t widely shared, if only because many people “ignore Black Swan threats despite warnings.” While similar fatalistic fears involving nuclear annihilation carried by Cold War generations came to naught, Miller insisted that “artificial intelligence is worse—much, much, much worse—than nuclear weapons,”
He added the U.S. government is fueling the problem due to the “hundreds of billions of dollars of being invested in AI and then donated to career politicians.”
AI isn’t the only future threat cited in Miller’s book. He points to a federal environment controlled by a “Perverted Triangle” of career politicians, government bureaucrats, and lawyers who don’t have the American people’s best interests in mind.
In Miller’s opinion, this “Perverted Triangle” has pushed policies for decades that weakened the nation’s socioeconomic strength, which will lay the foundation for a future of deprivation and chaos.
He also warns that the ongoing economic war with China could turn into a military conflict if the United States makes good on its pledge to help Taiwan repel an invasion from Beijing’s forces. Miller backs China’s territorial claims to Taiwan and views U.S. support for the island as an archaic holdover from the Cold War years.
Fighting for Survival
Miller’s book also encourages his readers to fight back against potential future threats. He highlights the availability of the Collapse Survivor App. This can be used to simulate a diverse range of worst-case scenarios, ranging from terrorist disruptions of the electrical grid to nuclear attacks, and offer strategies for surviving the most unpleasant futures imaginable.
Beyond his book, Miller takes on survival scenarios through The Fortitude Ranch, a franchise business that he owns and operates. Miller promotes Fortitude Ranch as a “recreational and survival community, a place to vacation and enjoy in good times and survive in a collapse.”
Miller said this business caters to the “prepper” community that seeks to be ready in the event of a severe societal breakdown. It attracted a lot of interest when the COVID-19 pandemic turned everyday life topsy-turvy.
“Our demand went down when Trump took office; a lot of that was because a lot of people who are interested in Fortitude Ranch in the past tended to be Trump supporters,” he lamented. “When he took office, they thought, ‘Oh, he’s going to protect us and things have gotten better.’”
While the Fortitude Ranch has been operational for about a decade, Miller still faces problems in gaining loans from skeptical lenders tainted by the shenanigans of the reality show, “Doomsday Preppers.” Miller condemned it as a “stupid TV show” that denigrated the prepping community.
“I would go into investment conferences and say, ‘Hey, I’m Dr. Drew Miller, I’ve got an academic scholarship to Harvard, PhD, retired Air Force colonel,’” he recalled. “I would delay as long as possible, but sooner or later, I’d have to say ‘prepping’ or ‘survival.’ And the second I do, you can just see it on their faces—They smirk and they stop paying attention.”
Miller hopes that people pay serious attention to “Preparing to Survive in the Age of Collapse,” although he is apprehensive that many people won’t take his concerns seriously until it’s too late.
“Are people likely to do the reforms recommended the book? The answer is no,” he acknowledged.
He added, “My only hope is that the first collapse disaster we have is not a really big one. You know, only, tens of millions of deaths, not billions if it’s a worldwide thing. And then, once it happens, people will react.”
Check out the review of Miller’s book, “Preparing to Survive in the Age of Collapse: Political, Military, Foreign Policy, and Preparedness Reforms Vital for Our Survival.”
What arts and culture topics would you like us to cover? Please email ideas or feedback to features@epochtimes.nyc
