AI warfare: AI in future conflicts. Battlefield AI, impact of AI on defence, military budgets, AI hybrid weapons, armed forces strategy. Extract from Ch25 - new book: How AI will Change Your Life - by Patrick Dixon, keynote speaker on Defence and AI

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Government, Politics, Democracy, War - Future

Patrick Dixon is a global keynote speaker on AI in defence / war, author of 18 books - in  conversation with Futurist Gerd Leonhard.

MILITARY SPENDING across the world will accelerate rapidly over the next decade and beyond, because of a growing threat of major wars in addition to existing conflicts. AI will be part of this defence industry boom. Military AI is racing ahead of all other AI innovation, except for AI in cybersecurity, national security, healthcare and workplace automation.

Military forces already spend $5bn a year on AI, for target acquisition, battle simulation, smarter intelligence and better weapon design. The Pentagon alone will invest $2bn in AI in 2025,

some of which will be in cybersecurity and cyberattack capabilities.The first two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine were a ghastly shock to military forces across the world, who had become over-reliant on smart weapons and mobile troops. Half a million fighters trapped in frozen trenches, cowering under artillery bombardment, trapped by landmines, thousands blown apart every month, in static conditions like those in the First World War.

Despite the horrors in Ukraine and the failure of high-tech weapons to achieve rapid gains, AI supremacy will become increasingly important. Indeed, the next stages of the Russian conflict will be dominated by drones and tech which increasingly relies on AI.

Wartime has always driven rapid innovation, and the fastest advances in AI will happen in the heat of fighting, amid the thunder of explosions and the destruction of cities. Advanced AI will detect threats in microseconds and be capable of triggering military conflicts in minutes, beyond the mental capacity of military leaders. AI will therefore end up with huge influence over military strategies and will control most firepower directly or indirectly.

Military AI will fight against other military AI

Some battlefields will be so complex and fast-moving by 2030 that only AI will understand what is going on. Battle-hardened AI systems will be locked in existential fights for existence against each other, with human commanders reduced at times to mere spectators.

One strategy will be to overwhelm enemy AI defences. We are already seeing this in drone warfare, because such devices are cheap and ideal for automated control. It costs less than £500 to buy a ‘suicide drone’ armed with a grenade. Compare that to a droneseeking missile which costs maybe £100,000. Yet another example of asymmetry which will impact every future conflict.

Expect ever larger numbers of drones, each posing different threats, plus hundreds of missiles and artillery pieces, all firing in chaotic frenzy. AI will mean that rapid escalation, from first drones and conventional missiles, right up to small tactical nuclear devices, and then widespread nuclear conflagration, could all happen in just a few hours. That is unless radical steps are taken on all sides to reduce tension and prevent such risks.

Expect all kinds of secret ‘back-door communications’ between hostile countries, and layers of quiet diplomacy. These things will continue to be the most important and effective strategy to help ensure peace and reducing the possibility of AI-related errors, especially the risk of triggering full-scale nuclear war.

Future war historians will record that the outcome of several major battles in the mid twenty-first century and earlier were decided in seconds or minutes. It is already the case that a warship under fire may only have seconds for countermeasures, especially at close quarters, as the US Navy recently encountered in the Red Sea when under attack from Yemeni Houthi rebels firing missiles from the nearby shore.

Daily Telegraph review (14 September UK): 

"If you need to acquire instant AI mastery in time for your next board meeting, Dixon’s your man. 

Dixon gives us plenty to think about: AI’s role in surveillance; AI’s role in intellectual freedom and copyright; AI’s role in warfare; AI’s role in human obsolescence – his exhaustive list runs to over two dozen chapters.

Business types will enjoy Dixon's meticulous lists and his willingness to argue both sides against the middle."

Read on - buy my new book NOW.  "How AI Will Change Your Life."

Looking for a world-class keynote speaker on AI in Defence? Call +44 7768 511390

* Dr Patrick Dixon is one of the world's best known keynote speakers on global trends, often described as Europe’s leading Futurist. Author of 18 books, he has advised over 400 of the world’s largest corporations, often sharing platforms with their CEOs at their most important global events. His clients include Google, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, LinkedIn and many of the world’s largest manufacturers as well as governments. Patrick is a cancer physician by first training and his first start-up company some decades years ago was an AI-simulator, using computers to talk to and diagnose patients. His website globalchange.com has had 15 million unique visitors with 9 million video views.

How AI will change your life - Contents of Book

Chapter Headings:

Part One: How AI Is Evolving

1 The Truth About Artificial Intelligence 

2 Super-Smart AI and a Reality Check 

Part Two: How AI Will Shape Our Future World

3 Workplace AI

4 Office Workers - impact of AI

5 Healthcare - how AI will drive better health

6 Pharma, Disease Prevention and Wellness - how AI will transform pharma

7 Education – in School and at College - AI challenges to education

8 Adult Education and ‘Truth’ - why AI will redefine "Truth"

9 Software Development - AI will help but less than many think

10 Film-making and Music - get ready for AI revolution

11 Search Engines, Social Media, Publishing and Art - massive AI impact

12 Marketing - most campaigns will be driven entirely by AI

13 Retail - AI will have huge impact on retail eg fashion

14 Travel and Leisure - multiple impacts of AI on airlines, auto industry etc

15 Relationships - relationships with AI bots, and impact of AI on human to human relationships

16 Food Industry - AI will drive greater efficiency

17 Satellites and Space Colonies - impossible without AI

18 Manufacturing, Logistics and Supply Chains - major benefits from AI

19 Construction and Cities - AI will transform construction and the built environment

20 Environment - AI will consume huge amounts of power but also enable sustainability initiatives

21 Pensions and Wealth Management - AI already controls most investment decisions

22 Corporate and Retail Banking, and Insurance - AI poses major threats but will deliver cost savings

23 Cybersecurity - greatest risk from AI right now

24 Surveillance - AI is every dictator's dream tech

25 Military and War - get ready for AI driven wars

26 Government - AI will enhance government and threaten democracy 

Part Three: How Should We Respond?

27 Ten Steps for Governments 

28 Twelve Steps for Individuals 

29 Ten Steps for Companies 

30 Postscript – A Story 

Read on - buy my new book NOW.  "How AI Will Change Your Life."

Looking for a world-class keynote speaker on AI in Defence? Call +44 7768 511390

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