Ep.19 - Artificial Intelligence and thermonuclear war

Moscow, 26 September 1983. It’s a few minutes past midnight, when lieutenant colonel Stanislav Petrov looks the apocalypse right in the eyes. On the screens connected to OKO - a satellite system which signals the launch of nuclear warheads from the USA – five missiles have appeared on their way towards the Soviet Union. Protocol requires calling the Kremlin to prepare a counterstrike. But Petrov doesn’t believe in the attack and instead decides to report a system error. A few minutes later, he’s proven correct. The machines misread some weather patterns. The decision of one human has saved all of humanity, but what would happen if one day Artificial Intelligence should be in the place of Petrov?