The Challenge of AI-Enhanced Cognitive Warfare: A Call to Arms for a Cognitive Defense | Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University

Curator note

Specialist Jones was in the motor pool when he received the Facebook post that led to his demise. A Facebook friend he had never met with sent him a video. His wife Carla was engaged in sexual intercourse with Sergeant Martinez. Jones, who is prone to impulsive behavior, became enraged and irrational. He went home, grabbed a hammer, and beat Carla to death. Then he committed suicide. For the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) system, it was a spectacular success. A well-trained and experienced soldier was neutralized in an hour at a negligible cost. The AI system analyzed the social media history of Jones and his wife, and within 20 seconds, determined that Jones was liable to violence if presented with a deepfake video denoting marital infidelity. The AI gathered social media pictures of Carla and Martinez and made a reasonably accurate assessment of what they might look like naked. This speculative and graphic example demonstrates how emerging AI-enabled cognitive threat systems and methodologies can be employed to exploit systemic personnel vulnerabilities and undermine the health and functionality of America’s warfighters. To date, this cognitive threat receives little, if any, consideration within the DoD.