🔗 Share this article

"Such technology represents the coming danger," cautions Serhiy Beskrestnov, that has just obtained a newly intercepted enemy unmanned aerial vehicle.

It was no ordinary device either, it was revealed. Powered by artificial intelligence, the unmanned aerial vehicle can locate and strike objectives autonomously.

Beskrestnov has inspected numerous unmanned systems in his capacity as the nation's defence forces consultant.

In contrast to other models, the drone did not transmit or accept any signals, causing it to be impossible to disrupted.

Both sides' forces are experimenting with AI in this war, and for certain tasks are now deploying it, for finding targets, intelligence collection and de-mining.

And for the nation's military, AI is now indispensable.

"Our military gets more than 50,000 video streams [from the front line] every month which are processed by AI," states Ukraine's defense official.

"This enables us quickly process huge volumes of information, pinpoint objectives and mark them on a digital chart."

AI-Empowered Technology as a Strategic Tool

AI-empowered tech is regarded as a instrument that improves military strategy, make the most of assets and in the end save lives.

However when it comes to unmanned weapons systems, it is also transforming the battlefield.

The country's soldiers already use AI-based software enabling drones fix on a objective and then fly autonomously for the final segment until the mission concludes.

Jamming cannot be done and shooting down such tiny airborne device proves difficult.

Ultimately such technologies are expected to become completely independent armaments that can detect and destroy targets on their own.

An operator will need to do is press a icon on a mobile application, explains Yaroslav Azhnyuk, chief executive of a local developer.

It handles the rest, according to him, finding the objective, dropping munitions, evaluating the damage and then returning to base.

"It doesn't demand flight experience from the user," he adds.

Interceptor Drones and Upcoming Developments

Defensive drones with such autonomous capability might greatly enhance defensive systems against enemy remote strike aircraft, such as the infamous Shaheds.

"An AI-driven self-operating unit is superior to a person in numerous aspects," says the executive. "It is sharper. It detects the objective sooner than a human can. It can be quicker."

The deputy defence minister says such a technology is not yet available, but he suggests the country is close to completing its development. "They've partially integrated it in certain equipment," states the representative.

There could even be thousands of such systems deployed by the year 2026, predicts the developer.

Concerns and Dangers of Full Autonomy

But Ukrainian creators are cautious about completely relying on defence systems that depend solely on AI, with no operator input. The danger is AI may fail to differentiate a friendly fighter from a hostile one, since both could be wearing the same uniform, notes an engineer, who declined to give his surname.

His company makes remote-operated automatic weapons, that employ artificial intelligence to autonomously identify individuals and track them. Due to worries about friendly fire, he says they don't have an automatic shooting option.

"It can be activated, but we must gain further expertise and more feedback from the ground forces in order to understand the safe conditions to use this feature."

Ethical Concerns and Global Regulations

Additionally, there are fears that automated systems will violate the laws of armed conflict. How can they prevent injuring non-combatants, or tell apart personnel who want to surrender?

For the deputy defence minister, the ultimate choice in such circumstances should rest with a human, although AI would make it "simpler to choose". Yet it's not certain that states or militant factions will follow international humanitarian norms.

So counteracting these systems is even more critical.

How can one halt a "mass of unmanned craft" when jamming or employing jets, armored vehicles or missiles proves useless?

The nation's very effective "Web" mission, when a hundred unmanned aircraft targeted enemy air bases last June, was probably supported by artificial intelligence.

Many in Ukraine fear that the adversary will copy that tactic, not just on the front line but beyond it as well.

The country's president warned the UN last month that AI was fueling "the worst weapons competition in history."

He called for international regulations for the application of AI in weapons, and said the matter is "just as urgent as preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons."