Is AI really being implemented in warfare? Everything there is to know about the West's new high-tech weapons
Artificial intelligence software has long been widely used in the military sector. Specifically, in this field the so-called “autonomous weapons systems” are becoming increasingly popular, essentially capable of functioning and operating on their own after receiving human input.
Among the most widespread applications of AI in the military field are, for example, the autonomous control of drones and the rapid analysis of large quantities of data, aimed at training systems capable of independently identifying ground and aerial targets.
Ukraine will use AI weapons
Ukraine, engaged in repelling the Russian invasion that in 2022 affected a large part of its territory, announced its intention to share with allied countries and some private companies the enormous amount of data collected during these years of war. The goal is precisely to facilitate its use to train military artificial intelligence systems.
In this way, Ukraine’s allies – which over four years of war against Russia has developed effective and inexpensive technologies to counter drone attacks, among other things – will be able to access a vast amount of highly useful data in the event of conflict. Kyiv, on the other hand, will benefit from an acceleration in the development of certain AI-based software to be used directly in battle, as well as from the introduction of new technological solutions to be deployed at the front.
The Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Mykhailo Fedorov, described the initiative as an unprecedented form of international cooperation, emphasizing how all parties involved will benefit, at a time when international conflicts are increasingly close and relevant for the West.
What Palantir has to do with all this
@techtiff Anthropic refused autonomous weapons deployment. They were classified a "supply chain risk." Hours later, OpenAI secured a Pentagon deal with the same restrictions. That discrepancy raises serious policy questions.
original sound - AI with Tiff
Artificial intelligence is now so widespread that its use in the military field is no longer surprising; however, it raises significant issues on the ethical and moral level. A company that has long maintained close ties with the defense and national security sector is the American Palantir, whose early backers include In-Q-Tel, the investment fund linked to the CIA.
One of Palantir’s main products is Gotham, a platform that allows the analysis and correlation of enormous amounts of data, even when they come from heterogeneous sources. In this way, the tool makes it possible to overcome so-called “data silos”, that is, the technological barriers that keep information collected in different contexts separate. Gotham is now widely adopted both by law enforcement agencies and by the military of the United States, and in recent years it has also begun to spread across several European countries. Palantir, in fact, has long collaborated with British, Dutch, French and Swiss entities, as well as with various governments and police or military forces in Europe, including those of the United Kingdom and Germany.
Precisely in Germany, for example, there have been protests and calls to suspend the use of Gotham, accused by some of violating existing regulations regarding the protection and processing of personal data of citizens. Recently, moreover, Palantir has been the subject of strong criticism for its collaboration with the Israeli military and over the alleged use of the company’s technologies to support certain military operations in the Gaza Strip.
