In an in-depth article published last week, The Economist analyzes the increasing use of AI technology in various aspects of Ukraine’s military operations and national security strategies.
The article highlights the following:
- Before launching rocket attacks on vital infrastructure, Ukrainian security officials use AI-generated assessments to gauge potential impacts on Russian morale and to create targeted information campaigns. To do so, notes The Economist, the algorithms of Kyiv’s Open Minds Institute “sift through oceans of Russian social-media content and socioeconomic data on things ranging from alcohol consumption and population movements to online searches and consumer behaviour.”
- Ukrainian military personnel utilize AI for drone design and target identification: “By ingesting reams of images and text, AI models can find potential clues, stitch them together and then surmise the likely location of a weapons system or a troop formation.” This approach allows a Ukrainian intelligence firm “to typically find two to five valuable targets every day.”
- AI is also employed in counterintelligence efforts, helping to identify potential threats and analyze complex networks of data for actionable intelligence.
- AI-powered network analysis “helps Ukrainian investigators identify violators of sanctions on Russia.” For example,”by connecting data in ship registries with financial records held elsewhere,” the software can provide “enormous caches of stolen business data to Ukrainian agencies.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for increased use of AI for national security as early as 2019, reminds The Economist. Government effort led to developing strategic models like the Centre of Operations for Threats Assessment (COTA). Ingesting “text, statistics, photos and video, (…) the model tracks prices, phone usage, migration, trade, energy, politics, diplomacy and military developments down to the number of weapons in repair shops.”
Meanwhile, citizens and businesses contribute data to support AI efforts through platforms like the Diia app and Mantis Analytics, a Lviv-based firm, aiding in societal functioning and defense efforts.
While AI has shown promise in enhancing Ukraine’s military capabilities, there are concerns about resource allocation and potential risks associated with reliance on AI technology. These risks include excessive faith in AI and the centralization of decision-making — far from the improvised moves of the autonomous small military units which ensured Ukraine’s biggest successes at the beginning of the war.
In February Time magazine reviewed Western tech corporations’ most notable contributions to Ukraine’s high-tech defense effort, in the field of AI in particular, and their far-reaching local and global implications
