‘Bad Actors’
Unfortunately, history is currently not much use because, to our knowledge we, (that is mankind) have never had such a powerful weapon that Information Technology (IT) has produced.
The discovery of the transistor in the 1950s could be thought of as a starting point, but the progressive understanding of mathematics, physics and engineering over periods of centuries has all played its part. The transistor however has enabled calculating machines to be developed. Then computers followed and sophisticated computer languages were mastered enabling complex, high level situations to be carried out electronically.
The emergence of the World Wide Web (WWW) has meant that the world has become interconnected on a nano-second time scale, and what happens in other parts of the world is just as important as what is happening in your own village, town or city. The world now relies on the security of the internet.
Artificial Intelligence, AI has been developed to such an extent that ‘bad actors’ (including nations), can break nearly every code and element that protects the internet. Nothing electronic is safe and contemporary life is in danger of being attacked. No one government or world organisation appears to be capable of controlling the situation.
Certain countries are currently (and also in the past) led by what normal people might call ‘bad actors’ and these people, together with genuine, bad actors have now been provided with a toolbox to create chaos. This makes the discovery, development and implementation of the Atomic Bomb look small scale when compared with the mayhem that ‘bad actors’ using AI can now achieve.
Malcolm Mackley
13.09.2026
This note was written without the use of AI
