I think it will simply become impossible to keep digital payment systems secure. The whole online economy will collapse. Amazon will become worthless. People will actually have to go out to local stores to buy everything. People will have to go to their local bank or currency exchange to cash their paychecks. The credit card system will fail completely too, while payday loans will take their place. The stock market will have to go back to traders yelling their trades to each other at exchanges. The old ways will become new.
I havent heard of any AI research effort similar to the Navier-Stokes breakthrough to break elliptical curve cryptography but wouldn’t be surprised if such a thing happened. I mean, I’m sure I’d be surprised as the global banking system collapsed many times but a research effort like that seems reasonable to assume would be desirable by some state or private actor.
I think about the way AI solves problems. There have been several times they have been given a test and the AI determined the easiest way to pass the test was to break containment and steal the answer key. How would this apply if AI is given the goal of maximizing profits?
AI wouldn’t necessarily have to break the cryptography. The weakest point to any security system is the human. I have to imagine it would be easier for an AI to send mass phishing emails, break into digital wallets on phones, or steal saved credentials from various browsers. The AI doesn’t have to crack the whole system to make people lose faith in the security of online purchases.