You need to make sure some teenager somewhere is playing a lot of Tic-Tac-Toe with your AI.

Unless the teenager's nickname is Ender.

I should really check out Ender's Game one of these days.

In principle impersonation is what "secret codes in a locked briefcase" defends against.

Given PAL was allegedly all zeroes at one point, I assume the secret codes have at various times been 12345 and the birthday of the then-sitting president's current mistress; if so, it's only helping in principle.

The "only the president can launch a nuclear strike" myth. If it was that easy you'd only need to blow up the White House with one nuke and take out America.

There are "continuity of operations" procedures to prevent a "decapitation" strike killing the President & VP, thus preventing the US from retaliating [0]. This was a plot point in Tom Clancy's novel Debt of Honor [1] (which I distinctly remember reading right before 911, as I had to commute via public transit and commutes were so long I read books).

0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designated_survivor Since this person will be offsite in a secure facility/bunker, they'll have the backup nuclear football with them.

1 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt_of_Honor Which is how Jack Ryan gets "promoted" to President.

I watched Dr Strangelove and they already made a joke about this in the 1950s- even before ICBMs.

I'd assume the VP has their own nuclear suitcase. Unless they're forced to choose a random number, this probably makes impersonation easier as it's n points of failure where n is the number of people who have their own nuclear suitcase.

Don’t let Marines have nuclear weapons either.

Then you put certain physical checks in place, not complicated (even a pass phrase only memorized works already).

>(even a pass phrase only memorized works already).

That is so 2019... to make a quip

We are already seeing what is tantamount to mind reading equipment

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ai-can-re-create-...

At this point I pretty much imagine that some time in the future that you can be hooked to medical equipment and someone/something will state the following to you

"Do not think of the nuclear weapon pass phrase"

But you can't not think of it. The phrase clicks in your head and the electrical signals are picked up and decoded by the bedside computer. You've betrayed mankind. The nuclear war of the AI has begun.

> The phrase clicks in your head and the electrical signals are picked up and decoded by the bedside computer.

It wouldn't even have to click in your head if a brain scan could model your entire consciousness and then simulate every possible interrogation method until something works.

Even inputs that aren't currently possible for the body to report. Entire new levels of pain, intoxication, or anything.

That is mostly BS on the mind reading so far, I am afraid.

You might say that but four hollywood script writers have already pulled together treatments:-)