Oltre l'immaginario. Quando l'AI va in guerra

Today, what was narrated as a dystopian future is becoming reality. Against the evidence of the enormous potential of AI in various areas of human life, there has been a wide debate about the impact of its widespread application on our society. It is therefore a question of defining where to draw the dividing line between the acceptable and unacceptable uses of the new framework. A specific but crucial articulation of this debate is represented by the development of fully autonomous weapons, which chase the dream of politicians and strategists of wars and battles to be won "to zero losses". Semi-autonomous weapon systems and, in perspective, completely autonomous, are formidable protectors of (own) lives and at the same time a potential exterminator of the lives of others (enemies). This would, however, make it more difficult to "resist the temptation of war", reducing civil society to an increasingly passive spectator of government decisions. To this must be added ethical and moral considerations. In armed conflict, decisions about life and death require insight and compassion, and human beings, however fallible, can (sometimes) possess both. Machines, however, are not.