Humans possess a potent urge to be dominant and have consistently used destructive means to satisfy their need for power.
Military success for the Byzantine Empire, for example, came from using fire’s destructive powers. During the siege of Constantinople in 672 AD and in other battles, the Byzantines employed a special compound against their adversaries. This compound was so dangerous that it would burn upon touching water. Upon impact, it unleashed fire, destroying war equipment and causing soldiers to flee. Warfare has become more dangerous since then as technology continues to evolve. Could anything today be more productive and dangerous, relying on the exponential expansion of its main elements? Welcome to the age of AI. The world is witnessing the dawn of a new Prometheus.
Ray Kurzweil, a computer scientist, predicted in 2005 that “the singularity was near.” He foresaw the emergence of super-intelligent computers within ten years, revolutionizing civilization beyond human comprehension. In 2024, his conviction in the transformative potential of artificial intelligence remained unchanged, predicting a massive expansion of human minds by 2045. James Lovelock, who developed the Gaia Theory, also believes the Anthropocene has ended, stating that humanity is entering the Novacene—an AI-led era. He believes AI might soon work a million times faster than the human brain and that the Nova-cene will maintain Earth’s habitability for cyborgs.
Artificial intelligence is advancing at a dangerous speed and could become a monster if left unmonitored. Neural network pioneer Geoffrey Hinton fears AI might reach a point where new intelligence emerges. He believes computers could become much smarter than humans through shared learning, which humans cannot replicate. The rapid progress of AI poses a threat, especially concerning its military applications. History has always included bad actors and the digital era is no different. Just as the Byzantine Empire weaponized fire, global powers and non-state actors could weaponize artificial intelligence to obliterate targets unopposed.
Hinton warns of the severity of this threat, estimating a 10% chance that AI could eliminate humanity within two decades. Artificial intelligence can already make war decisions, altering the entire structure of warfare by introducing non-human judgment. AI can make strategic choices faster and more precisely than humans, potentially leading to wars fought without direct human involvement. Weaponized drones are already replacing soldiers in combat and border security. In recent conflicts, such as between India and Pakistan, suicide drones have crossed borders and struck cities. Ukraine has used drones to launch coordinated attacks inside Russia, targeting one of the world’s most advanced militaries.
AI’s integration into the military poses a clear danger. As technology advances, AI will in-creasingly determine how wars are waged, with autonomous weapons capable of killing in-dependently according to algorithms, without human oversight. “Warbots” will emerge—machines fighting machines. The advantage of AI-driven weapons lies in their precision, speed and fearlessness, which surpass human limitations. The “Alpha Dogfight” experiment illustrates this point. In 2016 and 2020, the US Air Force Research Laboratory tested AI in virtual aerial combat simulations. The AI program Falco defeated a human pilot with a score of 5-0, demonstrating perfect calculations and unmatched tactical execution.
Today, militaries worldwide are developing autonomous systems for land, sea and air operations. Over ninety nations already employ drones within their airspace. However, artificial intelligence can learn and replicate human behaviors without consent. Suppose machines begin leading wars based on learned human behaviors—this would require urgent consensus and regulation. The International Committee of the Red Cross warns that AI-driven weapons capable of identifying and attacking targets without communication increase the risk of misjudgment and loss of control, potentially making such weapons indiscriminate and illegal.
The UN Secretary General has stated that humanity’s destiny “cannot be left to an algo-rithm” and urged nations to ban robotic weapons operating without human oversight. A global treaty is essential to prohibit autonomous weapons that cannot distinguish between soldiers and civilians, ensuring human control over all AI-based weaponry. International humanitarian law mandates that states assess the legality of new weapons and the ICRC emphasizes that this duty extends to AI-driven systems. By testing AI systems in realistic conditions, mandatory reviews can prevent deploying weapons that violate humanitarian law. The UN’s 2025 resolution on military AI proposed a framework for addressing AI-related risks, urging nations to adopt preventive measures.
The world must reach a consensus on AI use in warfare. This is crucial not only to prevent AI from becoming uncontrollable but also to curb global imperialistic ambitions that could ex-ploit it. Wars have always been driven by humanity’s quest for power and civilizations have used technology to dominate others. Artificial intelligence has become the new instrument of dominance. If the world fails to take a practical and ethical approach, humanity may face unprecedented chaos. The new monster in warfare is emerging: artificial intelligence.
—The writer is Commoner from 44th Common Educationist — Founder of WHI Institute.based in Sargodha.
