In a Pluralistic essay, Cory Doctorow argues that AI-driven bureaucratic defense systems are triggering an arms race comparable to mutually assured destruction. He contends that as governments and institutions deploy AI to reject benefit claims and appeals, citizens increasingly turn to their own AI tools to counter the denials, ultimately undermining the delivery of public services. Drawing on examples such as automated insurance claim denials prompting competing AI appeal tools, and the history of email spam wars, Doctorow concludes that technological fixes to bureaucratic problems often defeat the systems’ original purpose.
