[Popular Science of Chinese Military Technology] What can artificial intelligence do? Is it equivalent to autonomy?

When talking about artificial intelligence, we have to mention autonomy. Autonomy is understood to be something more complex than artificial intelligence, and some even believe that autonomy is equivalent to artificial intelligence, which is actually not quite accurate.

Figure Note: Artificial Intelligence Imagination (Image Source: Baidu)

Artificial intelligence is a general term that refers to a broad combination of technologies or a series of technologies or techniques. It is a series of sensors and processors that receive information, process information and output. Autonomy, conceptually, refers to a command or control term. It is an operating capability that is independent of other controls or guidance. Autonomy emphasizes self-awareness and free will. Autonomy appeared a long time ago. For example, mines used in wars are completely autonomous. You bury them in the soil. They no longer need people to control them. They will only perform their functions mechanically and actually do nothing until someone steps on them. When a soldier steps on a mine, certain parameters are met, and the mine is activated and explodes. Artificial intelligence can have "formal self-awareness" but not "substantial self-awareness". In other words, artificial intelligence has weak autonomy.

Figure caption: SPY-1D (V) radar used by Aegis (Image source: Baidu)

At present, with the development of artificial intelligence technology, intelligent weapon systems that can automatically identify, lock and attack targets are gradually emerging, and can replace humans to execute simple decision-making commands. For example, the US military's ship-borne "Aegis" system, the Israeli military's "Iron Dome" system, the Russian military's "Arena" active protection system, the French military's "Shark" system, etc., because the intelligence level of these systems is not high at present, the autonomous combat mode is usually the last option. In specific combat fields, such as cyberspace and electromagnetic spectrum, humans can only rely on intelligent weapon systems for autonomous confrontation.

In a sense, AI-enabled systems allow for autonomous capabilities, but they do not require autonomy. For example, autonomous weapon systems are weapon systems that autonomously select targets to attack without human involvement. However, in order for weapons to have autonomous capabilities, a large number of recognition systems need to be provided for weapon systems. Take facial recognition systems as an example. This recognition system collects information about the public through a large amount of data collection. If the system has complete autonomy, such a recognition system may be used for other illegal purposes, causing the situation to get out of control.

In the future, as autonomous confrontation of intelligent weapon systems becomes the new normal, human judgment in the field of artificial intelligence or when dealing with autonomous issues cannot be replaced by machines. Therefore, the solution to maximize the potential of artificial intelligence systems is not to completely exclude humans, but to shift from "man in the loop" to "man on the loop." In most cases, human soldiers play the role of supervisors, responsible for inputting target characteristics and setting rules of engagement before the battle, observing battlefield engagements, etc.

Expert profile: Weng Zongbo is a military equipment science popularization expert. He is mainly engaged in research on domestic and foreign high-tech equipment, main combat equipment of various arms, joint combat strategies and tactics, etc. He has published more than 200 articles in military newspapers and magazines such as the "People's Liberation Army Daily", "China National Defense News", and "Weapons" magazine, and has been awarded the third-class merit once.

Produced by: Popular Science China Military Technology Frontier

Author: Weng Zongbo (military science writer)

Planning: Jin He

Scientific review: Fei Boyu (senior military editor)

Producer: Guangming Online Science Department