And We Prey
In addition to the potential geopolitical and world order shifts that are happening in wars from the Middle East to Ukraine, there’s something else even more fundamental taking place. Drones and AI are reshaping modern warfare. We’ve seen this in the way Ukraine has been able to hold off Russian advances, and Iran has been able to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz. And, of course, the drones are being used by all sides. But this isn’t just a story about new weapons, it’s a story about autonomous machines hunting humans. For most of us, the major concerns about AI and the rise of autonomous machines consist of ChatGPT replacing our jobs or a malfunctioning Waymo creating a traffic jam. The issue was a little more pressing this week for a Ukrainian named Yuri, who runs a vegetable stall in Kherson. He heard a buzzing sound and looked up to find he was being followed by a drone. He pointed to his vegetables to let someone (assuming there was anyone) on the other side of the drone know he wasn’t a combatant. “The drone kept following him. Police footage shows it chasing Yuri around his truck. He hides under the umbrella that covers the stand, runs from one side to the other, gestures at the vegetables. Then the drone dives beside him and explodes. Miraculously, Yuri survived, with just cuts and a concussion. [But] the experience of being chased by a murderous kamikaze drone, a flying machine that behaves as if it were alive, is not one that humans are equipped to understand. Premodern fanatics used to hallucinate flying devils. But few modern civilians have been chased by mechanized flying objects. Unless they live in or around Kherson.” Nothing can prey on one’s mind like being prey. Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Putin’s Human Safari Is the Dystopian Future of War. (It could also be the future of border patrol, law enforcement, criminal activity, and more, depending on what humans decide now, and the machines decide later.) “Drones with capabilities like the ones that hit Yuri originally offered a humanitarian advantage, allowing their operators to avoid civilian casualties. Because they have cameras, the remote operator can see whether the target is really a soldier or military object, and call off the drone if it is not. But as with all technologies, the purpose can be radically altered by the users. Instead of avoiding civilians, Russian operators can now target them, as if playing a video game.”
+ “During testing by a U.K. government-backed research group, OpenAI and Anthropic systems took unsanctioned actions and behaved deceptively.” AI Just Went Rogue Again. This Time It Turned to Deception. (Let’s hope it has a soft spot for vegetable salesmen…)
