Use of AI in weapons is growing fast, India must weigh how much autonomy to allow: Naravane

The use of artificial intelligence in weapons is growing rapidly, and armed forces will have to decide how far to trust it, former Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane has said.

“The use of AI in weaponry, weapon systems, and platforms is growing rapidly,” Naravane said on the sidelines of the 15th Khushwant Singh Literary Festival at the Kasauli Club in Himachal Pradesh. “We must carefully consider the extent to which we should adopt these technologies,” he said, adding that the question was “how much autonomy should be granted to AI.”

His remarks touch one of the most contested questions in modern warfare: whether machines should be allowed to select and strike targets without a human making the final call. Naravane did not set out where he thought that line should be drawn.

A festival about disagreement

The festival, which opened on Friday, took “The Art of Disagreement: Conversations Across Divides” as its theme, and Naravane drew on it. “There is, indeed, an art to expressing disagreement,” he said. “When you disagree, focus on the issue, not the individual.”

He also launched “Forever Young KSLF”, an advisory initiative for young and emerging writers, and told them that writing, like soldiering, needs routine. “A soldier writes his diary every day; a writer must write every day,” he said. “Write fearlessly, but write responsibly. The pen, like the sword, must be wielded with honour.”

The festival is directed by Rahul Singh, son of the late writer Khushwant Singh, after whom it is named.