MILITARY men around the world are racing to develop AI-powered weapons in a frantic attempt to outdo each other.
While proponents argue that improved capabilities could reduce collateral damage, critics say that A.I. weapons race could quickly get out of control.
The United States Marine Corps has welcomed developments in this area.
The service completed the second test flight of an unmanned aircraft called the Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie in February.
This development marked a milestone in the implementation of Project Eagle, the service’s aviation modernization strategy.
In addition to building AI-piloted weapons, the Marine Corps is looking for ways to pair unmanned aircraft with manned aircraft so as not to eliminate human fighters entirely.
“AI will be a critical element of future warfighting and the speed with which we will have to understand the operational picture and make decisions,” said Maj. Gen. Scott Cain, commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, in a press release.
Cain predicts that autonomous operations will continue to “evolve at an unprecedented rate.”
But the use of autonomous weapons is a double-edged sword.
These tools reduce the number of fighters sent into conflict while maximizing the damage inflicted on the enemy.
Drones and other autonomous devices can hit targets with unfathomable precision, fulfilling their purpose as killing machines.
While this may seem like a positive outcome, such unrestrained brutality will only cause weapons to race intensify, possibly spurring the development of more destructive weapons on both sides.
A global coalition has come together to ensure the responsible use of artificial intelligence in time of war.
Last February, the U.S The government released the Political Declaration on the Responsible Military Use of AI.
The document aims to guide the development and deployment of military AI by states.
Countries are urged to develop AI that is consistent with obligations under international humanitarian law, which is intended to limit the effects of armed conflict and protect those not in fighting.
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The declaration already has 52 signatories. Missing from the list is Russia – a country that contributed to fueling AI weapons race.
The invasion of Ukraine ushered in the development of AI-powered weaponry as the embattled country struggled to combat one of the world’s most powerful militaries.
This pressure, combined with a constant flow of investments, transformed Ukraine in a development focus for autonomy drones.
Vyriy is just a company working on development drones that fly alone and lock onto targets. The devices use basic computer vision algorithms that analyze and interpret images.
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A Google Form reviewed by The US Sun offers a free course for Ukrainians interested in learning how to build drones.
“Within the program, you will learn for free the skills of assembling a 7-inch civilian FPV drone, which in the hands of our military is capable of destroying occupant equipment and burning enemy tanks!” he reads.
Another Ukrainian drone manufacturer, Swarmer, can deploy dozens of instruments simultaneously.
Thanks to AI, devices can adapt to each other’s movements and coordinate strikes without sustained human involvement.
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Some tools are in development, while others are already in action on the battlefield. Powered by AI drones they target Russian oil refineries, for example.
And other countries are struggling to develop autonomous weapons, even without the imminent threat of conflict.
MSubs, a British technology company, has secured a £15.4 million ($19.8 million) contract from the UK Royal Navy in 2022 to build an autonomous submarine codenamed “Project Cetus”.
Named after a mythical sea monster, the unmanned machine will be capable of operating up to 3,000 miles from home for three months.
What are the arguments against AI?
Artificial intelligence is a highly controversial issue and it seems like everyone has a position on it. Here are some common arguments against this:
Job Loss – Some industry experts argue that AI will create new niches in the job market, and as some roles are eliminated, others will appear. However, many artists and writers insist that the argument is ethical, since generative AI tools are being trained on their work and would not work otherwise.
Ethics – When AI is trained on a dataset, much of the content is taken from the internet. This is almost always, if not exclusively, done without notifying the people whose work is being performed.
Privacy – Content from personal social media accounts can be fed into language models to train them. Concerns have emerged as Meta unveils its AI assistants on platforms like Facebook and Instagram. There have been legal challenges to this issue: in 2016, legislation was created to protect personal data in the EU, and similar laws are in the works in the United States.
Misinformation – As AI tools extract information from the Internet, they may take things out of context or experience hallucinations that produce absurd responses. Tools like Copilot on Bing and Google’s generative search AI are always at risk of getting things wrong. Some critics argue this could have lethal effects – such as AI prescribing erroneous health information.
Chinese researchers have discovered yet another use for artificial intelligence in times of war – assisting in the weapons design process.
The Chinese military uses AI to develop massive electromagnetic weapons that can launch projectiles into orbit.
In 2022, a group of Chinese researchers at the Wuhan Naval University of Engineering used AI to develop what they claimed was the world’s smallest and most powerful coil gun.
Once the AI provided a set of optimized data points, the researchers altered the weapon’s parameters, decreasing its size and increasing its energy output based on the computer’s suggestions.
The kinetics energy of the bullet passing through the barrel was more than twice that needed to fire a fatal shot.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
