Everyday Reflections

The Iran war and Ukraine war are essentially AI-era wars and indicate how foreign policy can no longer revolve around borders. Instead, countries are devising proprietary AI-enabled systems to be better prepared for cyberattacks, conflicts, or critical infrastructure disruption. 

Edge AI — or running algorithms on hardware near a data source instead of the cloud — is being used to build systems to churn data, for surveillance and reconnaissance, to aid decision-making, increase speed and precision of weapons, simulate scenarios, and secure systems at scale. 

For instance, Palantir’s AI-powered defence platform Maven supplies data analytics tools to the US and organisations like NATO, which helps in intelligence gathering, counterterrorism and for military purposes. 

India is also accelerating its AI adoption for defence. While we lag the US and China in terms of data availability/investment, the defence sector and deeptech startups are working to create smaller language models.

The recently announced Rs 300-crore Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence aims to boost defence capabilities, while homegrown startups like Sarvam are in discussions with the Defence Ministry. Project Ekam by Neuralix is another initiative to develop a secure AI-as-a-Service system for the Indian Army.

Compared to commercial AI tools that can be accessed by all, sovereign AI is developed by governments in isolation for national security. This focus on proprietary tools is to maintain critical data privacy. 

While AI enables advanced computing, it’s critical to keep defence-related data totally in our hands as shared infrastructure amplifies risks. 

Let’s consider the GPS system — owned and operated by the US government — whose signals are vulnerable to hacking. Similarly, there are concerns that the US-Iran conflict could lead to the cutting of vital undersea fiber-optic cables, which can disrupt global internet traffic.

It’s also vital to keep humans in the loop to make key decisions, even if it takes more time and involves going through multiple layers of leadership. These are matters of life and death and there shouldn’t be shortcuts taken. Accountability and deliberation are needed before jumping the gun.

Whether a nation is at war or in peace, it’s clear that AI is important for long-term security and well-being. As the saying goes, “A threat detected is a threat averted.”  

Do you think AI in defence will keep nations secure?  

#AI #Defence #ArtificialIntelligence #Cybersecurity #AISovereignty #IranWar