Experts are reportedly claiming that artificial intelligence (AI) can be used by the U.S. military to enhance the efficiency and speed of targeting effectiveness, intelligence assessments, and war plan creation. This comes as US officials are on the lookout as China continues to pressure Taiwan, consistently considering the island is Chinese territory.
Retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, senior director of the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, reportedly told Fox News that AI and machine learning (ML) can assist U.S. intelligence professionals in analyzing the vast quantity of surveillance data that the country is consuming, particularly from China and the Western Pacific Ocean.
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China has warned amateur military enthusiasts that they could be imprisoned for taking and posting Chinese army tech images online.
The Senior director adds that AI and ML can help make the quick processing, assessment, and distribution of surveillance data more nimble and effective. Thus, possibly giving the U.S. military and decision-makers an advantage in this regard.
The use of this new technology, can lessen the likelihood that a mistake in judgment will lead to an unnecessary military war. It is stated that decision-makers frequently confuse training exercises for real military operations and misunderstand the objectives of adversaries.
China-Taiwan Tensions
In light of the ongoing debate over China's intentions regarding Taiwan, it is imperative to avoid making incorrect assessments of the adversary's goals. This is the case even though Washington politicians are becoming increasingly concerned that China is getting ready to invade Taiwan to forcibly unite it with the mainland and undo decades of democratic self-governance.
China stepped up its military posture in the Taiwan Strait during Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi's divisive August 2022 visit to Taiwan. China reportedly used 727 aircraft in 2022 and 850 aircraft in the first half of 2023 to invade Taiwanese airspace, according to the Stimson Center.
AI-Assisted Military Operations
AI has previously been employed to support military operations; according to reports, the Israel Defense Forces started using it in July of last year to select targets for airstrikes and organize supplies for combat.
Without providing particular missions, the military claims that an AI recommendation system capable of processing large amounts of data is used to choose targets for attacks.
Another artificial intelligence model called Fire Factory is then used to quickly organize subsequent raids. It utilizes information about military-approved targets to compute munition loads, prioritize and allocate thousands of targets to planes and drones, and suggest a schedule.
Human operators oversee and approve the plans and targets for air attacks using both AI systems. There are worries regarding the lack of national and international rules on this technology.
Supporters of the proposal assert that better algorithms may perform better than human abilities and perhaps lower the number of fatalities, while opponents of the proposal worry about the dangers of increasingly autonomous systems.
