Vanguard Magazine

16 JUNE/JULY 2020 www.vanguardcanada.com ArMY yes. Humans will continue to play a criti- cal role in the battlefield of tomorrow es- pecially in humanitarian and peacekeeping operations. That said, full military kinetic operations will certainly see a significant reduction in the number of soldiers re- duced from the force structure. As the cost of soldiers continues to increase, it will be much more cost-effective to employ AI, autonomous, deep learning systems and agents to accomplish missions. The kinetic battlefield of 2050 will see a force struc- ture where the lowest level of the human soldier on the ground would, most likely, be the equivalent of today's Platoon Com- mander, directing a set of automated AI- enabled platforms. The human dimension also plays an im- portant role which AI is unable to learn - such as values, culture, relationships, sol- dier identity, and "the psychological con- tract between the soldier and society". The most important of all is the human ability to deal with ethical dilemmas. How will AI deal with ethical dilemmas when placed in a lose-lose predicament? The famous exam- ple is based on science fiction author Isaac Asimov in his classic story Liar where an AI robot struggles to respect two of three laws he was programmed to obey, demonstrat- ing that humans will indeed provide a com- passionate and human aspect to the battle- field that would be otherwise irreplaceable. Cyber Defence The fourth industrial revolution will make AI available to the public and the commer- cial sector. Militaries and governments will not be the only operators in the informa- tional environment and militaries will be equally exposed to the same threats they impose on their adversaries. As mentioned earlier, the battlespace will be predomi- nantly in the electromagnetic spectrum and information environment. This will cause cyber defence to become a vital asset to preserve the integrity of our AI systems and prevent us from being victims of our systems if it turns against us. Equally, mis- information used as a weapon can be det- rimental to the decision-making process, causing wrong courses of actions and lead- ing to mission failure. It is obvious that cy- ber may become the fourth environment in the CAF and cyber defence may become a trade within which programs and AI sys- tems will necessitate the shielding of the information environment. the Future Battlespace AI will undoubtedly play a role in the CA of the future in one way or another. At the very least, by 2040, the CA should see ini- tial variations of the Augmented Human. For the most part, if employed correctly, AI can completely change ADO and with the help of its automated decision making, micro-targeting, large scale self-organiz- ing, and its ability to sort through endless data, it will enable the CA superiority in the battlespace. Moreover, humans will continue to play an important role as they possess human attributes that will never be programmed into AI. This article was originally written as a ser- vice paper for the Canadian Forces College and reprinted here by permission. LCol Amir ElMasry, CD is currently serving as Deputy G6 for the Canadian Army. For the most part, if employed correctly, AI can completely change ADO and with the help of its automated decision making, micro-targeting, large scale self-organizing, and its ability to sort through endless data, it will enable the CA superiority in the battlespace.

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