Artificial intelligence (AI) is an outcome of the rapid development of technologies and it impacts almost all spheres of modern life. It could be defined as the ability of computers to simulate the actions of human beings and perform tasks that generally were done by real people. Nowadays, AI is widely used in medicine, engineering, education, transportation, etc. The military sphere has also undergone profound changes due to the application of recent technologies and AI. The current paper will provide research on the virtues, shortcomings, and perspectives of the use of AI in the military.
The issue of the usage of AI in military actions is highly controversial and has both supporters and opponents. The main topic of the debates concerns AI’s ability to fully mimic the way humans behave and make decisions. The point here is that robots, equipped with AI, become able to conduct wars on their own (Cummings, 2017). Consequently, there is a question of whether such machines should be allowed to perform independently or not. According to Cummings (2017), artificially intelligent weapons deserve attention since they preserve human lives. Besides, robots, automatic aircraft can monitor the surface and notice details invisible to human eyes.
Nevertheless, Horowitz (2018) indicates that even intelligent machines could not be autonomous since they lack the flexibility of human minds. Cummings (2017) agrees with this point because AI, at least nowadays, does not possess “knowledge-based reasoning” (p. 6). In other words, AI is unable to change its programmed strategies when the situation does not fit the initially planned pattern; it cannot make decisions based on experience. Cummings (2017) illustrates these circumstances with the case of the US Airways Flight № 1549 that managed to land the Hudson River. This event took place in 2009 when the technologies were much less developed than in 2020.
Still, in summer 2019 in Russia, Airbus A321-211, which belongs to Ural Airlines, succeed in landing the plane in the cornfield even though one of the engines was broken. In both cases, despite the ten years interval, AI was unable to land the aircraft so successfully because it was not programmed to do so. The same could be told not only about the private services but also about military ones. Military pilots often face unpredictable emergencies, and thus they cannot be substituted by AI.
The second point about the role of AI is that it changes the rules of warfare and the way countries act. Since the first trial of the atomic bomb in 1945, began the era of the nuclear race. It meant that the power of the state was measured in its ability to create and use nuclear weapons. The rapid development of technologies in recent times led to the replacement of the nuclear race with the race over AI (Horowitz, 2018).
For instance, in 2017, the Chinese and Russian governments claimed that national competitiveness and powerfulness could be enhanced mainly through the development of AI as a dominant strategy (Horowitz, 2018). Apart from that, AI changes the balance of power since such developing states as Singapore, South Korea, and North Korea start actively implementing AI technologies both in the commercial and in the military sphere (Horowitz, 2018). Consequently, AI influences not only methods of warfare but also national policies and distribution of power among nations.
To conclude, AI has a significant impact on the way people fight wars. AI race replaced nuclear race, which, from one side, motivates states to develop technologies and, on the other hand, makes wars more artful and severe. Although the use of AI in the military has both advantages and disadvantages, it could be concluded that it could not replace soldiers completely even though it can provide substantial support during military operations.
References
Cummings, M. (2017). Artificial intelligence and the future of warfare. London: Chatham House for the Royal Institute of International Affairs.
Horowitz, M. C. (2018). Artificial Intelligence, International Competition, and the Balance of Power. Texas National Security Review, 1(3), 1-22.