Translator’s Note

This article was part of a series of articles published by People’s Navy for the purpose of helping Chinese naval personnel to understand the characteristics of intelligent warfare and grasp the implications of Xi Jinping’s 20th Party Congress report in which he called for the PLA to “accelerate the development of unmanned intelligent combat forces.”

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Summary

The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military field is an important force for promoting improvements in military technology and progress in the revolution of military affairs and is a key driver changing operational patterns and disrupting the form of war. In the upsurge of military applications of AI, we must think carefully about future decisions, deeply understand the technological hub (jishu shuniu) role of AI, dialectically view the functional boundaries of military applications of AI, and accurately grasp what AI “can” and “cannot” do. We must oppose both contemptuous and omnipotent theories of AI military application, comprehensively and objectively clarify what AI “can” and “cannot” do in military applications, and strive to seize the opportunity, win the initiative, develop systematically, and make breakthroughs in the military application of AI.

Sample Text

AI Can Disrupt the Form of War, But It Cannot Change the Essence of War

The form of war is the manifestation and overall state of war in different historical stages demonstrated through the progression of manufacturing and production in human society applied to the military domain. Major breakthroughs in science and technology and the landmark developments of cutting-edge weapons and equipment will subsequently lead to new changes in military organization, operational methods, and operational theories, culminating in overall changes in warfare, thereby creating a new form of war. At present, intelligent warfare is revealing new characteristics that disrupt previous forms of war. For example, intelligent military organizational form will be reshaped and restructured; leadership command systems will feature flat network aggregation, matrix interaction, and global coupling characteristics; scale and structure will be more streamlined and efficient, aggregated across multiple domains, and integrated; human-machine hybrid and unmanned swarm formations will become the primary method, while the proportion of intelligent unmanned operational forces continues to increase; the status and role of virtual space in the operational system will gradually increase; the geographic, physical, information, and cognitive domains will achieve deep integration and harmonization, with multi-domain and cross-domain [operations] becoming the basic forms of warfare; weapon systems without a center, or a weak center, or with a center, with hybrid compatibility between them, will become the development trend, which will completely change the human-centered control and decision-making model.

It is now obvious that AI technology is increasingly used in the military field, which has heightened the level of intelligent warfare. This in turn may cause a lowering of the threshold of war, a blurring of the appearance of war, and a diversification of the agents of war. However, any advancement in technological means cannot change the nature of war; nor can it change the basic laws and guidelines of warfare. In the intelligent age, the essence of warfare is still the politics of bloodshed. The development of smart technology and its application in the military field is also a direct manifestation of the political and military strategies of various countries and political groups. There is still a clear distinction between the justice and injustice of war, and the fate of the war is still determined by the officers, soldiers, and masses of common people (renmin qunzhong) participating in the war. A war involving national independence, opposition to oppression and exploitation, and promotion of people’s liberation and social progress requires the courage to “do it when you know that you cannot do it” and the determination to “win when you meet the enemy on a narrow road and only one person can pass.” In terms of war guidance, no matter how AI technology develops, we must adhere to the fundamental principle that war serves politics and persist in the fundament principle of defeating unjust wars with just wars. … … …