New innovations in wartime technologies have always been a grave concern for the future of humanity. As time goes on, Humans will find new and inventive ways to wage war on each other while others find the time to criticize the ethical and moral implications of these new weapons and systems. This reminds me of the inventions at the dawn of World War 1, with the invention of airplanes, tanks, gas, and machineguns, all of which were subject to scrutiny at the time.
Now, there are new way to wage modern warfare. The one that I find most intimidating is the use of cyber-attacks that target a nation’s infrastructure or meddle in their political affairs. We saw the result of this type of intervention through the events of the 2016 election, where Russia used social media A.I. systems to influence the outcome of the election in their favor. Additionally, cyber-attacks could be used to shut down energy production in order to weaken a nation from the inside and cause panic. Such an attack would be devastating to the United States and leave us open for direct assault. Finally, the use of A.I. operated drones are cause for concern as well. Maria Cramer explains in her article that these drones were used in Libya by government forces to hunt down retreating rebel fighters. This raised concerns and criticisms by the global community because such technology could confuse enemy soldiers with civilian non-combatants. The combination of mercilessly harassing retreating soldiers and the possibility of A.I. targeting non-combatants by mistake make the use of A.I. drone systems a topic of great debate. However, use of A.I. systems in war could also be beneficial as we have seen in the war in Ukraine. These targeting systems have given the Ukrainians an advantage on the front lines and their success with these systems will prevent actors from underestimating them in the future.