Vitalik Buterin Has a Different Take on AI Hackers and the Future of Cybersecurity

Buterin said that modern AI could allow developers to verify entire programs instead of checking only the parts they consider security-critical. Vitalik Buterin does not believe that the growing concern that AI-powered hacking could make cybersecurity increasingly difficult is warranted. In a recent post, the Ethereum co-founder said he disagrees with the idea that AI hacking means “cybersecurity is doomed.” He instead said that security could naturally favor protection once people build the right systems and use stronger verification tools. On AI Hackers and the Future of Cybersecurity Buterin gave a simple example involving advanced artificial intelligence and mathematics. He said, “If AI can prove Navier-Stokes and FLT, then AI can prove the statement ‘this program is secure’ as a mathematical theorem. Even if the program is very complicated.” However, Buterin emphasized that defining what “secure” actually means is much harder than it sounds. A system can have many different security concerns that need to be considered. Security definitions can become extremely detailed. They can cover how an attacker might interfere with a system, how information could leak, and what could hap...