Using Artificial Intelligence in WAR

Countries including the United States and China called Thursday for urgent action to regulate the development and growing use of artificial intelligence in warfare, warning that the technology "could have unintended consequences".

A two-day meet in The Hague involving more than 60 countries took the first steps towards establishing international rules on use of AI on the battlefield, aimed at establishing an agreement similar to those on chemical and nuclear weapons.

"AI offers great opportunities and has extraordinary potential as an enabling technology, enabling us among other benefits to make powerful use of previously unimaginable quantities of data and improving decision-making," the countries said in a joint call to action after the meeting.

But they warned: "There are concerns worldwide around the use of AI in the military domain and about the potential unreliability of AI systems, the issue of human involvement, the lack of clarity with regards to liability and potential unintended consequences."

The roughly 2,000 delegates, from governments, tech firms and civil society, also agreed to launch a global commission to give clarity on its uses of AI in warfare and set down certain guidelines.

Militarily, AI is already used for reconnaissance and surveillance as well as analysis, and could eventually be used for autonomous choosing of targets—for example by "swarms" of drones sent into enemy territory.

China was invited to the conference as a key player in tech and AI, Dutch officials said, but Russia was not because of its invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago.

"We've clearly established the urgent nature of this subject. We now need to take further steps," Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said at the conference's end.

Although experts say a treaty regulating the use of AI in war may still be a long way off, attendees agreed that guidelines urgently needed to be established.

"In the end it's always the human who needs to make the decision" on the battlefield, General Joerg Vollmer, a former senior NATO commander, told delegates.

"Whatever we're talking about, AI can be helpful, can be supportive, but never let the human out of the responsibility they have to bear—never, ever hand it over to AI," Vollmer said in a panel discussion.

US In War With China Predicted for 2025

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, fighter jets of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) conduct a joint combat training exercises around the Taiwan Island on Aug. 7, 2022. (Gong Yulong/Xinhua via AP)

A four-star Air Force General on Friday predicted in a memo to his officers that the U.S. will be at war with China by 2025 and advised his commanders to prepare, a report by NBC News said.

Gen. Mike Minihan, head of Air Mobility Command, in a memo to all air wing commanders and other Air Force operational commanders said, "I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me [we] will fight in 2025."

Minihan said he believes war with China is imminent in the next two years due to the upcoming 2024 elections in the U.S. and Taiwan, which he claimed will "distract" Washington and Taipei and enable China to make a move on the island.


The general said a "a fortified, ready, integrated, and agile Joint Force Maneuver Team ready to fight and win inside the first island chain" needs to be established to prepare for the looming fight.

Minihan directed his Air Force commanders to report back by Feb. 28 on steps they will take to prepare for the war against China.

He also said all personnel should ensure their records and emergency contact information are up-to-date and to "consider their personal affairs and whether a visit should be scheduled with their servicing base legal office to ensure they are legally ready and prepared."

The general reportedly urged his fighting forces to "run deliberately, not recklessly," but said they need to accept some risk in training.  READ MORE...

Hypersonic Missiles

Imagine if a foreign country launched a nuclear attack on the continental United States and the Pentagon had only six minutes to respond. That’s the potential of a new generation of weapons on the horizon, according to a recent Rand Corp. report.

Rand is urging the United States, China, and Russia to form an agreement on how to handle hypersonic missiles, which travel at more than five thousand kilometers per hour (about 3,100 mph). Hypersonic weapons are more than five times faster than a regular cruise missile and would not be detected by U.S. air defense systems as early as ballistic missiles.

The United States, China, and Russia are all known to be close to achieving deployable hypersonic systems and are ahead of other countries, according to Rand.

“Hypersonic missile proliferation would increase the chances of strategic war,” said Richard Speier, lead author of Rand’s report, in a press release.

The speed forces quick military counter-decisions with potentially disastrous effect. “It would give nations an incentive to become trigger-happy,” he said.

The United States likely has less than a decade to counter the proliferation of hypersonic missiles, though they are not yet operational, according to the report. Current missile defense systems would not be effective at defending against hypersonic missiles, and Rand urges changes to the existing missile technology control regime to anticipate and address them.

Crunched for time with dire stakes, countries might adopt a so-called launch-on-warning doctrine, or they might just strike first. Without time to consult a traditional chain of command, nations might feel compelled to give the military command and control, increasing the likelihood of accidental war. Countries might also scatter their weapons in order to better respond, which would give terrorists greater opportunity to steal the weapons for themselves, the report said.

“None of these options is very good,” Speier said.  To Know More About Hypersonic Missiles and Possible War, CLICK HERE...