How Artificial Intelligence is supposed to be a key weapon in the arsenal of the 21st century warfare?

Given the complexity of the subject, the working definition of Artificial Intelligence is required. There is no one commonly agreed on a definition, even among computer scientists and software engineers, but a general definition of AI is the capability of a computer system to perform tasks that occasionally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, pattern, and decision-making. However, the definition still inherently oversimplified, since what constitutes intelligent behavior is also open to debate.  

Machine Learning and AI have been a part of our life for many years. Megacorporation in commercial sectors like Amazon and Google vastly used Autonomous technology to extend their commercial empires. Commercial markets rapidly increase the use of AI systems.

In a military context, the potential for AI exists in all domains (i.e. land, sea, air, space, and information) or in all levels of warfare (i.e. political, strategic, operational, and tactical). For Instance, AI can be used to destabilize an opponent by producing and publishing massively quantities of fake information, for achieving political and strategical objectives. At the tactical level, AI can improve partly autonomous control in the unmanned systems so that human operators can operate unmanned systems more efficiently, ultimately, increase battlefield impact.

•  US faces significant international competition in military AI - both China and Russia rapidly persuading militarized AI technology.
• Strategic risks include the possibility that AI will increase the likelihood of war, escalate ongoing conflicts, and proliferate to malicious actors.
• AI will present a new perception of ethical questions in war, and deliberate attention can potentially mitigate the most extreme risks. 
• The proliferation of military AI to other state and non-state actors is somehow another area of concern.
• Human involvement needs to take place across the entire life cycle of each system, including its development and regulation. 

Intelligence-gathering, unarmed drone-like Global Hawk, which, once given orders able to implement them without the need for a transparent data link, allowing it to be sent into highly contested airspaces to gather vital information. This makes it far more survivable in a near conflict, and money is now pouring into these new systems that can fly themselves.

 

Killer Robots?

The rise in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, in both military and commercial settings, has been accompanied by a heated debate as to whether there should be an outright ban on what some label ‘killer robots’. Such robots, which could be in the air, on the ground, or in and underwater, theoretically incorporate ‘artificial intelligence (AI) that would make them capable of executing missions on their own. The concern which though rise whether it could be allowed to execute such military missions, especially if there is a  possibility that any human life could be at stake.

There are few examples where AI can be applied  to enhance military capability.

1. Surveillance
2. Underwater mine warfare
3. Cyber Security 

 

Challenges for AI in Military Domain:

Currently, militaries of the world are holding the decision-making power in humans. But in wartime, these communication links are the potential targets in the future. The majority of drones currently deployed around the world would lose their core function if the data link connecting them to their human operator were hacked or severed. 

The most concerning aspect amongst all is the offensive use of AI malware. A decade back in 2010, the world's most renowned cyber-weapon Stuxnet sought to insinuate itself into the software controlling the spinning of centrifuges refining uranium in Iran. Also able to hide itself, it covered up its tracks, searching for a particular piece of code to attach that would cause the centrifuges to spin out of control and be destroyed.

 

     

References:

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/3/28/friend-or-foe-artificial-intelligence-and-the-military

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3139-1.html

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