On 07/26/2022, the first ever ‘Artificial Intelligence in Defense’ exhibition was held in New Delhi. The event was organized by the Indian Government and was led by India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh. The exhibition aimed to showcase the newly produced AI products that ought to be used for defence purposes by Indian Defense Forces.
During Singh’s articulation to the participant of the exhibition, he purposed;
“We have to use artificial intelligence (AI) for humanity’s progress and peace. It should not be the case that a country or a group of countries establish their dominance on this technology — just like nuclear power — and the remaining countries are not able to enjoy the fruits of this technology,”
During the exhibition, the first three AI products were launched. These included a Driver Fatigue Monitoring Product, a Voice-enabled transcription and analysis method and an X-ray detection machine for finding welding defects for non-destructive testing. DPUSs(defence public sector undertakings ) included two public companies: Bharat Earth Movers and Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers.
These three products are just the beginning of a ton more to come, suggests the statement of India Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar , claiming that DPUSs will launch 75 more AI-powered products on the 75th anniversary of India. The committee seemed excited about the upcoming launches as they are supposed to increase soldier safety and overall benefit the ease of job for the army. These products shall be the soul of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ initiative that they will also launch on the 75th anniversary.
Lethal autonomous weapon systems, autonomous systems, blockchain-based automation, cyber security, human behaviour analysis, intelligent monitoring systems, logistics and supply chain management are expected to be the primary genre of the AI products that will be launched.
Overall, this is a big step toward the better use of AI and is meant to provide peace and stability in the region. Yet the defence ministry did not all cherish the innovations of AI that are being made daily.
Rajnath Singh showed his concern about the improper use of the upcoming technologies. As he further mentioned to the committee;
“We cannot stop the progress of artificial intelligence and we should not try to stop its progress. But we need to be careful about it,”
And again, in his speech, he added;
“We need to work on AI extremely carefully so that this (technology) does not go out of our control in the coming times,”
Singh’s concerns are highly justified; with ever-evolving technology, the threats associated with it also increase. The excessive power of India can create a significant difference of control and, instead of promoting peace, can cause further instability in the region. But hearing what Singh promoted during his speech as a defence minister is enough assurance that he comes with a good heart and wants peace and prosperity for his country.
Moreover, if we take a look at the other countries in the region. China is one of the biggest AI goods producers in the world, yet the Chinese military has not concatenated any AI innovations in their defence systems. They neither plan to have AI products included in their military industry.
On the other hand, Pakistan has already started using AI in their defence forces. Especially Pakistan Air Force has recently launched CEW(cognitive electronic warfare) in their air force systems. After the incident of Balakot Indian defence analyst, Prawin Sawhney suggested that Pak Air Forces were already using CEW, and that was the reason for their immediate response.
