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Letter: What does AI really know about nuclear war? (1)

Published 25 March 2026

From Martin Underwood, Birmingham, UK

In your report “AI can’t stop recommending nuclear strikes”, you quote a researcher who says “The nuclear taboo doesn’t seem to be as powerful for machines [as] for humans”. Surprise, surprise! I also noted with interest the discovery that, in the fog of war, accidents happened in 86 per cent of the conflicts. As 19th-century general Helmuth von Moltke said, “No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force” (AI or no AI) (7 March, p 11).

Issue no. 3588 published 28 March 2026

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