How to Teach a Machine Not to Kill Us: WarGames and Artificial Intelligence

About this episode

Can an artificial intelligence learn the value of human life?

In this episode of Computer Séance, Tracie, Ben and Justin revisit the 1983 Cold War classic WarGames, a film that imagined many of today's biggest AI questions decades before ChatGPT.
Your hosts explore the film through the lenses of artificial intelligence, hacking, nuclear deterrence, automation, game theory, and Cold War politics. We discuss how WarGames predicted debates about AI safety, autonomous weapons, machine decision-making, and the risks of trusting intelligent systems with human lives.

Show Notes:
About Wargames (1983)
Director: John Badham
Writers: Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes
Production: United Artists & Sherwood Productions


References:
Watch Wargames: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bymdsSvLfJY 
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQUsLAAZuhU&pp=ygURd2FyZ2FtZWVzIHRyYWlsZXI%3D  
WIKI- https://tinyurl.com/4w5hm528I
MDB- https://tinyurl.com/4hf2mty9
Rotten Tomatoes - https://tinyurl.com/yfmzr72c
AI and weapon systems: https://aiwar.cloud/ 
Human in the loop: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-in-the-loop 
Cory Doctorow: 
a) https://pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/pop-that-bubble/
b) https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jun/22/the-reverse-centaurs-guide-to-life-after-ai-by-cory-doctorow-review-the-real-price-of-artificial-intelligence 
Sam Altman: https://cybernews.com/ai-news/altman-ai-energy/ 
NORAD: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NORAD
Hackers (1995) film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackers_(film)
Speech act theory:
a)  https://www.britannica.com/topic/speech-act-theory
b) https://archive.org/details/austin-how-to-do-things-with-words
Robots in the war in Ukraine: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/04/fighting-robots-give-ukraine-hope-in-war-with-russia
Loitering munitions: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loitering_munition" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer...