Unmanned drones, malware attacks, and hacking the data of the enemy’s capabilities are the new norms. It’s the 21st century and like all other fields, AI is also playing a significant role in the military. However, militaries all over the world are still using conventional weapons. But we observe a noticeable global shift towards using technology specifically AI to achieve military goals and get more into electronic warfare or cyber warfare.
AI plays a positive role in military advancement, but its dangers might be greater than the benefits. Firstly, AI benefits humans a lot in their defense as well as in the conditions of warfare. Nowadays, any state that intends to attack another state first observes the conditions through satellites in their area. AI uses audio, video, and images to help get a crucial insight into the location and the whereabouts of targets. It can consume data from news and social media platforms that enhance its information, making things easy for humans e.g. threat identification.
The U.S.A. is leading in this race of AI development. It uses AI software to train its soldiers to fight in different war situations. I think it is an effective transformation in the training of the soldiers. So, they get prepared for such scenarios they would encounter in the real-time war on the battlefield. AI can not only collect data but also generate data in making difficult decisions. So, it also acts as an assistant to humans during difficult situations. AI can collect data and save human resources from getting wasted or sabotaged. For E.g. it can identify targets and inform of shortest routes or hurdles in the way.
Amidst its positive role in the military, it offers an extremely dangerous role in modern world military and defense competence. Drones with AI can transport different things. Consider an important meeting happening that may decide the fate of a state or the next strategy in warfare with a state or even plotting against them dangerously. A drone may enter carrying some dangerous or fatal chemical substance. It can easily destroy the minds behind this game with an attack without requiring any human presence. Similarly, it can even destroy the devices that control an important system in this domain.
AI can also be called force multipliers as it increases the efficiency of different tasks with the same number of people. On the other hand, it also multiplies the destruction with the same amount of manpower. Another benefit of using AI in military attacks is that the main mind behind all this remains unknown and secure. The most famous attack in cyber warfare was a decade ago. It is called Stuxnet, a cyberweapon that attacked the software of spinning centrifuges refining Uranium in Iran. It covered the tracks so that centrifuges began to spin at such a rate that they destroyed themselves. It happened in 2010. Duqu and Flame viruses are the subsequent cyberattacks that happened in Iran in 2011 and 2012. It worsened the situation of Iran which claimed the U.S.A. and Israel were behind it. But the irony of such attacks is that the attacker causes maximum damage without being known.
The example of Estonia illustrates the curses of AI in the military. It digitalized the system of the whole country and began to be called Digital Estonia. But one cyber-attack crashed the whole country in 2007. The mastermind behind this could not be caught to date. This is the power that every individual from each country enjoys if they have access to a computer and an internet network. President of Russia, Vladimir Putin said, “ AI is the future of not only Russia but humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader of this sphere becomes the ruler of this world.”
Despite knowing the dangers, countries continue to race to achieve more power in AI military advancements. No one can compete with the U.S.A. in this regard. But a thing to be noted is that Russia and China are also developing their AI programs not only in air and cyberspace but also on land and in water. Recent advancements include an unmanned global hawk drone, France Dassuelts nEUROn, Russia’s Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik-B, and Loyal Wingman.
But everybody is recognizing the harm it will cause in the future when it can even get out of human control. Therefore, Elon Musk and specialists from 26 countries sent a letter to the UN to ban completely autonomous weapons. Another instance is the restriction on Amazon to sell microchips thinner than a hair strand to avoid the enemy’s capability.
In a nutshell, AI makes things easy. However digitally dependent systems and countries are at a greater threat of destruction. I think the dangers are more than the advantages. From my perspective, a cyberattack is the best option where territory attainment is not intended. However, it is most probable that it would threaten the survival of the whole International Community. If humans lose control over it, the devastation could be tremendous. Therefore, checks and balances are necessary. And the relevant authorities must put some restrictions on it if not a complete ban to avoid an unprecedented disaster in any future conflict.
author can be reached at nabeehaali1411@gmail.com