AI-related offensive technologies in (cyber) warfare and nuclear security

Abstract

Despite the world’s generalized stability and peace maintenance, new technologies have affected every aspect of everyday life and practice, from transportation and communication to military capabilities. The new possibilities technologies such as Artificial Intelligence have introduced, along with the still unexplored aspects they entail, present an unprecedented multi-faceted reality in the military domain.

Weaponized offensive technologies are being developed in parallel with defensive capabilities, enabling a continuous race between the two and between the states that engage in Artificial Intelligence research and development. These novelties raise a new modus operandi on the conventional battlefield, but also in cyberspace, reshaping the very nature of war. Incorporating AI-enabled offensive technologies in (cyber) war is followed by unfamiliar benefits, challenges, legal and ethical questions.

In this paper, I will try to emphasize some of the most common AI-enabled technologies used in contemporary warfare, mention relevant case studies and some of the major states’ policies and national developments, all while presenting both the benefits and the challenges of integrating cutting-edge technologies in the military sphere.