Man, machine, and AI: A transit from 2D to 3D

For centuries, the business of warfare was 2D—soldiers and their machines. The rule was simple: soldiers commanded, machines obeyed, to spew fire and fury. The bigger gun won. But so much has changed over time! Today, the battle is fought not only with kinetic tools of warfare but also in narratives, in cyber, in perceptions, all shaped by the enabling tools of AI. The 3D warfare has arrived—man, machine, and AI.

AI will be the game changer in the hybrid wars of tomorrow. From ‘kinetic’ to ‘cognitive’, the AI leap will be huge. Chips will be the new oil, data will outpace bullets, decision-making speed will shape outcomes and narratives, and perceptions will decide who the winner is, boots-on-ground notwithstanding.

From firepower to mindpower

Raw firepower will count in blood and flesh, but the sheer mind power, given wings by the enabling tools of AI, will count as much, if not more. Simply put, it is the latter that will decide if the applied firepower prevailed or was outgunned.

The cognitive war in the psychological domain will be fought in the minds of the adversarial commanders. The side, which can break the opponents’ will to fight, albeit only in belief and perception, will prevail. The ‘make-believe’ of war is more important than the outcome snatched at the bayonet point, though the latter will remain the ultimate clincher. The face of warfare is fast changing from kinetic to cognitive.

On Operation Sindoor, there is a perception that we inflicted a crushing defeat on our adversary during the four-day conflict, but our performance in the narrative war lagged.

It feels like the sheer decibel of the 24x7 breaking news frenzy has a lesser effect than a shrewd, calculated, venomous misinformation campaign that turns ‘white lies’ into ‘perceived’ truths. Perceptions decide the winner. It is, however, heartening to see the momentum behind prosecuting the perception war building slowly but steadily. Case in point are the recent bold and clear statements from Defence minister Rajnath Singh and

Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi, and some real, convincing stories backed by facts gaining traction in the national media.

Aided by, not driven by

Not long ago, AI was a humble assistant, a ‘knowledgeable’ chatbot that would dig out a reply to your problem before you blinked. However, in today’s warfare, AI has become a decision driver, and it will continue to be.

In this role, it can play out hundreds of predictive and analytical scenarios of a possible adversary’s action, and counterplay the same against various possibilities of responses; thereby, churning out the best course.

Herein lies the warning: while AI must aid decision-making, it must not become the decision maker itself. AI must never dwarf the ‘hunch of the commander and the ‘intuition of the fighter’. Ultimately, it will be a human who will tramp his boots on victory or defeat, AI notwithstanding.

Countries are integrating AI across the board in tools of warfare. China’s doctrine of “intelligentised warfare” seeks to merge AI, cyber, and electronic warfare into one seamless digital organism. What about us?

India hasn’t been a bystander either. We are already in the driver’s seat. The defence ministry has promulgated the AI Task Force Report, a blueprint for action. The same now drives the Indian Army’s AI Centre of Excellence under the Directorate of Information Warfare. These are the centres where adaptive electronic warfare, predictive analytics, and intelligent decision-support systems are being developed. The aim is to evolve an ‘AI roadmap 2026-27’.

‘Indian AI with Indian intellect’

India’s approach to AI-enabled war-fighting capability is deeply rooted in the Atmanirbharta sentiment. We are developing Indian AI with Indian intellect to enable our armed forces to win wars. Whether for the public or private sector, the abiding sentiment is “build in India” and “build for India and the world”.

The above sentiment is loud and clear, not only for big players like the Tatas, Adanis, Ambanis or Mahindras, but also for several smaller players and MSMEs. Take, for instance, Zen Technologies Limited. The Hyderabad-based company is not only creating national intellectual property (IP) wealth through Indian designs, development and creation of

combat training solutions, and counter-drone systems deployed globally, but it is also making huge strides in AI-enabling its product range. From AI-driven, immersive training solutions to building multi-spectral cameras for drone detection and designing autonomous weapon systems, the AI power is fuelling the products of this company—all proudly Indian!

Man, not the bot

The AI hype and its enablement of the war machine on one side, humans must stand on the other side, on a higher pedestal. In the business of warfare, situations are unpredictable. The fog of war blurs the lines between ‘imagined’ and real, and decisions have to be taken under the pressure of time and space. Hence, AI must aid decision-making, not become the decision maker. The ultimate reality should be that AI must aid, but not ‘rule’.

Humans in the loop are not only essential, but existential. In the ultimate analysis, AI may enable the war-fighter, amplify his skill, sharpen his decision-making capability, and enhance his capacity to win the war, but it must not replace humans.

In sum, while we live through the metamorphosis of the binary matrix of man and machine into its 3D avatar of ‘man, machine and AI’, the superiority of the war-fighter to fight and win wars must remain an abiding constant.

(Saxena is former Director General of the Corps of Army Air Defence. Views are personal).