Maybe they want the "backfire"... in that a hidden purpose would be not a weapon against enemies but a method of population control ... sounds Crichton-esque, no?
The elderly suffer disproportionately. China claims to be a leader in AI. Maybe their version of Hal predicted a favorable outcome by 2025 - as the most cost effective way to keep an aging population from being an increasing burden. Historically, there is a model in the Spanish flu of 1918 which killed as many as 50 million but was followed by the "roaring twenties" a decade of incredible economic growth and widespread prosperity, driven by recovery from the pandemic and from WWI (which only killed a fraction as many). --------------- Creating a bio-weapon is like designing a gun to backfire. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk
