2023 Summer Undergraduate Fellow Spotlight: William Ortell
William Ortell’s current focus is on nuclear nonproliferation narrowly and existential risk broadly. At a crucial point in history, how can one best use their career to help ensure the preservation of humanity into the future?
In pursuit of this goal, Will is a fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, a student of international relations and Spanish at the University of Southern California, and a social studies and writing mentor for Curious Cardinals. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, drinking tea and coffee, and talking about consciousness.
If you share any of these interests or want to get involved in any of these areas, he would love to chat with you! His linked in is linkedin.com/william-ortell and he is best reached through email (ortell@usc.edu).
Research Presentation: Asymmetric Implementation Implications of AI Governance for Nuclear Competition
This presentation seeks to investigate the following question: how might AI governance measures impact nuclear weapons competition and alter international coordination? I begin by outlining the current artificial intelligence landscape and reviewing recent policies and policy proposals that have been proposed to regulate the most cutting-edge models. I then examine current and future uses of AI/machine learning (ML) technologies in nuclear weapons systems. Using these bodies of research, I analyze prospects for future international coordination on nuclear weapons systems, concluding that AI governance measures are likely to reinforce current technological asymmetries, lower confidence in strategic stability, and heighten nuclear competition.
