AI on the battlefield |
THE prominent use of artificial intelligence in warfare lately will remind many of us in Pakistan that this is not new. The ‘signature strikes’ via drones in Pakistan by the Obama-led US administration considered any ‘military age males’ as legitimate combatant targets, a practice that led to a very high civilian casualty rate unaccounted for by the US and criticised by rights groups. The processing of footage captured by surveillance drones that constantly buzzed above Waziristan and adjoining areas and deducing targets as early as in 2008 was one of the earliest cases of the use of AI intelligence in warfare which made Pakistan a testing laboratory for the tech-enabled warfare that would follow.
As a technological tool that uses large swathes of data called large language models to process information and make deductions for varied purposes, AI has come to be used across sectors, including in the information ecosystem. The ‘fog of war’ created by the use of generative AI in information operations is another example of its deployment in warfare, but that deserves a dedicated discussion. The lesser known targeting of people through AI certainly merits attention.
AI has several functions in warfare today, such as finding and classifying targets; fusing data for command and control; helping plan operations with generative AI and simulation; enabling drones and other unmanned systems to operate; and in supporting cyberwarfare, maintenance and logistics.
Reports of AI company Anthropic refusing to accede to terms demanded by the Pentagon in a military contract highlighted the tensions as well as collaborations that exist between technology........