Our war is not the kind we read about in Remarque’s books, mainly because of our modern tactics. The technologies are battling side-to-side with the soldiers, implicating civilians and making us doubt the common morality.
In antique times people often imagined how it would be if objects behaved like people, for example, Greek had myths about robots. Later classical philosophers were describing people’s thinking as a sign system. The term “artificial intelligence” (AI) was first heard 70 years ago, during the Dortmund conference. It means the ability of computers to repeat human behaviour.
Pavlo Kryvenko, the Head of the AI and Cyber Security Section of the Center for Army Conversion and Disarmament Studies, told us about how AI helped us during the Russian invasion.
“The armed conflict now cannot be successfully resolved without the use of the latest weapons, modern intelligence, data transmission, control and destruction systems, which do not contain components of “artificial intelligence” at least in part,” says Pavlo Kryvenko.
According to him, we mostly receive AI solutions from other countries, such as the US, the UK, Baltic countries, Sweden, Poland, etc. The AI elements are there in particular in “Stinger”, “Javelin”, “Bayraktar TB2”, and “Switchblade”. Those elements are also in Ukrainian technologies like kamikaze drone ST-35 “Thunder” or attack UAV helicopter “RZ-500”. Although, Ukrainian technologies are not produced en masse.
“Artificial intelligence processes huge amounts of data extremely quickly. It takes significantly less time to make decisions before or during operations. It is also much easier to control troops and weapons,” — Pavlo Kryvenko said.
However, according to the expert, it is prohibited to discuss the technologies of the Armed Forces openly so that the enemy would not learn about them.
However, the expert noted that AI is vulnerable to incomplete, incorrect, or falsified data. If there is an attack (even a slight data change), it will process the result incorrectly.
“No recognition technology can replace an experienced specialist. The number of areas and ways to use artificial intelligence in the military will expand over time, and in the near future such systems will become one of the main tools in the preparation and conduct of combat operations,” — noted Pavlo Krivenko.
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Artificial intelligence and Russia
Last year, Russia invested a lot of money in the development of artificial intelligence. However, now the invaders almost do not use it, except for UAVs, one attempt of a deepfake, and a demining robot seen only once. Like the entire Russian economy, its technical sector has suffered from sanctions, in particular, they have a lack of microchips. Defense One predicts the development of AI in Russia will not stop but slow down.
Fortune magazine tells that China and Russia wanted to seem allies in technology. However, in 2021 Russia cooperated with American developers three times more often. Up to 70,000 Russian IT specialists have gone abroad since the start of the full-scale war, and the rest do not want to work with AI in the military.
How else does artificial intelligence accelerate our victory?
1. Finds dead Russians on social media. The Minister of Digital Transformation Mikhaylo Fedorov told about it back in March. The Ministry’s technology was already using face recognition technologies — the Ukrainian people could sign documents with their faces only. Now artificial intelligence debunks the myths of Russian propaganda, such as “special operation” with “immortal” soldiers according to the same algorithm. The technology recognizes the faces of corpses and finds them on social networks, and the Ministry uses autodials to notify relatives of their deaths and tell them about the Russian atrocities.
2. Searches for saboteurs and war criminals. Many terrorists operating in the Kyiv region, tells Mykhailo Fedorov, were found with facial recognition algorithms. There is also artificial intelligence at checkpoints — the systems have already caught more than two hundred criminals and deserters.
3. Listens to Russian soldiers’ conversations. In April, the American company Primer began selling algorithms that intercept the conversations of the occupiers — according to Wired. Russians’ conversations are poorly encrypted, they are even often using regular mobile communications. They teach us Ukrainians, the importance of cybersecurity. On the information front, data from open sources are valued.
4. Creates paintings about Ukraine. One week ago, artist Phil Bosua presented the NFT collection Mint for Ukraine with the help of artificial intelligence. In this way, he spreads Ukrainian culture and identity and collects donations. 90% of the money goes to first aid kits and the restoration of the Kyiv region, and 10% — to support museums and galleries, as well as Ukrainian artists unemployed because of war.
5. Collects intelligence for the Pentagon. The United States is actively using AI to study the Russian language, tactics, and strategy, tells Defense One. The United States is collecting data for the future, but their curiosity is in our favor.
