Ukraine Utilizes Extensive Drone Video Records to Educate Artificial Intelligence for Military Purposes
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict may be witnessing the commencement of AI warfare, with both nations utilizing small drones for reconnaissance, target identification, and even deploying lethal bombs across enemy lines. This novel approach to warfare enables commanders to survey an area safely while highlighting the significance of lightweight aerial weaponry capable of accurate strikes, rather than expensive fighter jets. For instance, a drone costing $15,000 can reportedly neutralize an F-16 costing tens of millions.
Reuters investigates how Ukraine has amassed massive quantities of video footage from drones, aiming to enhance the proficiency of its drone battalions. The report cites an interview with Oleksandr Dmitriev, the founder of OCHI, a Ukrainian non-profit system that consolidates and analyzes video from over 15,000 drones on the frontlines. Dmitriev revealed that the system has accumulated over two million hours of combat footage since 2022. He asserted, "This is food for the AI: If you want to educate an AI, you provide it with 2 million hours (of video), then it becomes something extraordinary."
Originally, the OCHI system aimed to offer the military access to drone footage from numerous sources on a single screen. However, its administrators discovered that the footage could be utilized for AI training as well. AI systems need ample footage to identify what they are seeing effectively; before 2022, Ukraine likely had restricted battlefield footage. Now, approximately six terabytes of data is being added daily to the system on average.
Ukraine's defense ministry has also disclosed that another system named Avengers has managed to pinpoint 12,000 Russian military equipment pieces a week using AI identification.
Petite Ukrainian tech companies are not the only ones developing new AI technology for combat. The defense industry offers substantial financial rewards, making Silicon Valley giants like Anduril and Palantir, as well as Eric Schmidt's startup White Stork, eager to contribute drone and AI technology to Ukraine's battle efforts.
However, skeptics express concern that these technologies automate significant portions of the fighting and can make it less tangible. Such military operations might be prone to making less discriminating or even committing war crimes when not overseen by an actual human combatant. Schmidt has emphasized that the drones from his company maintain a "human-in-the-loop," ensuring humans make the final decisions.
In an interview, Anduril's Palmer Luckey addressed the use of AI in weapons systems. He observed, "There is a hidden campaign being waged in the United Nations by many of our adversaries to mislead Western nations that perceive themselves as morally upright not to use AI for weapons or defense. What is the moral triumph in having to employ larger bombs causing excessive collateral damage due to being prohibited from using systems capable of penetrating Russian or Chinese jamming systems and striking with pinpoint precision."
Jamming technologies allow adversaries to scramble GPS and communication signals used for directing precision-guided weapons. However, AI-controlled drones can operate autonomously and identify targets without operator input.
Recent reports indicate that the U.S. is currently lagging behind adversaries like Russia and China in the ability to remotely disable enemy weapons using jamming. Russia has repeatedly disabled precision-guided weapons offered to Ukraine using more advanced jamming equipment than what the U.S. possesses. In response, the U.S. can invest in avoiding GPS jamming, thus opting for less precise, automated drones, or retaliate by jamming the Russians back.
Luckey forcefully rebuked those who argue that a robot should never decide between life and death. "My response to them is, where's the moral superiority in a landmine unable to differentiate between a school bus full of children and a Russian tank?" Luckey questioned, suggesting that it is unlikely that a school bus would be traversing a battlefield unless it was a trap.
The integration of artificial-intelligence (AI) into drone technology is becoming increasingly crucial in the military sphere, as seen in Ukraine's use of AI for analyzing combat footage and enhancing drone proficiency. Additionally, the future of warfare might involve more tech companies, like Anduril and Palantir, contributing AI and drone technology to combat efforts, aiming for pinpoint precision and reduced collateral damage.
