Militarization of Artificial Intelligence Systems: Opportunities and Threats

The research is devoted to considering the possibilities and risks of using artificial intelligence in military affairs. It is emphasized that at present, when the importance of the factor of military force has significantly increased in the world, artificial intelligence technologies are increasingly being considered as one of the basic tools for strengthening the potential of militarization. Along with other breakthrough innovations, such systems are a priority in the creation of promising weapons, military and special equipment. The conditions of growing tension in the modern confrontation are stimulating an unprecedented increase in the pace of scientific and technical development of “smart” weapons, their serial industrial production, testing and use on the battlefield. The development of artificial intelligence technologies is actively bringing forward a fundamental transformation of the scientific and technical equipment of the defense sector and leading to the emergence of new trends in the development of military art. Analyzing the phenomenon of opacity of artificial intelligence, the author notes the tendency of these systems to turn into a kind of black boxes, which significantly complicates the understanding of the principles, algorithms, sequence of actions on the basis of which the system makes conclusions, decisions, etc. This entails the impossibility of properly monitoring the adequacy of the data obtained using these systems, and even more so of “automatically” trusting them. These circumstances increase potential risks, since the use of weapons equipped with artificial intelligence platforms significantly reduces the operator’s ability to control the situation in the combat area, minimizing the time to comprehend the situation and make a strategic decision. The author believes that the main threat of the transition from robotization to the intellectualization of weapons and military equipment is the removal of humans from decision-making. Going beyond clearly understood and defined algorithms is a danger that cannot be ignored. The cost of an error made as a result of an inadequate decision made by a digital service may turn out to be unacceptably high. The study notes that weapons equipped with artificial intelligence are more dangerous than traditional means of warfare due to speed and elements of unpredictability. Such developments can become a powerful catalyst for the onset of the era of the next technological structure, where the main guideline is the creation of systems of strong (general) artificial intelligence.