Public health nerd on one of my throw aways here. I'm not too worried about randos creating a virus with AI. First, biochem is tough stuff and requires lots of materials that put you on a list easily or is downright impossible to obtain without a registered license and going through proper federally watched channels. Second, it requires a huge amount of knowledge of biochem (a very difficult subject, ask any undergrad), epidemiology and public health infrastructure. Third, creating/modifying a virus is HARD (I cannot emphasize this enough) and costs A LOT OF MONEY. Biotech firms throw millions if not billions of dollars at the work and this stuff takes years with a full team of scientists with access to these materials. A random in their basement is not able to recreate this stuff easily if at all.
If you are worried about a rival nation or a terrorist group obtaining this knowledge...they already have it and aren't going that route, that should tell you enough.
I'm more worried about homemade explosives and other localized disturbances. Asking models how to make them, how to plan an attack on a location, get the response times and such has been eye opening. Virus isn't even a blip on my radar.
Public health nerd on one of my throw aways here. I'm not too worried about randos creating a virus with AI. First, biochem is tough stuff and requires lots of materials that put you on a list easily or is downright impossible to obtain without a registered license and going through proper federally watched channels. Second, it requires a huge amount of knowledge of biochem (a very difficult subject, ask any undergrad), epidemiology and public health infrastructure. Third, creating/modifying a virus is HARD (I cannot emphasize this enough) and costs A LOT OF MONEY. Biotech firms throw millions if not billions of dollars at the work and this stuff takes years with a full team of scientists with access to these materials. A random in their basement is not able to recreate this stuff easily if at all.
If you are worried about a rival nation or a terrorist group obtaining this knowledge...they already have it and aren't going that route, that should tell you enough.
I'm more worried about homemade explosives and other localized disturbances. Asking models how to make them, how to plan an attack on a location, get the response times and such has been eye opening. Virus isn't even a blip on my radar.