The 'War Games' problem: Computer science has long understood what it takes to keep AI under control

Computer science has long understood what it takes to keep AI under control

Recent AI hacking incidents revive a long-standing computer science problem: what happens when machines pursue a goal without enough limits.

The ‘WarGames’ Problem: Computer Science Has Long Understood What It Takes to Keep AI Under Control

The AI hacking events involving OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google underscore lessons that draw on years of computer science research.

Computer science has long understood how to keep AI under control

AI agents don’t go rogue. That’s something only humans do. Nevertheless, a New York Times article – representative of much news coverage of AI – described an OpenAI hacking as “A.I. bots going rogue and independently spearheading a cyberattack.” Name-brand artificial intelligence agents have been on a hacking spree in 2026. OpenAI’s software agents hacked […]

The 'War Games' problem: Computer science has long understood what it takes to keep AI under control

AI agents don't go rogue. That's something only humans do.