Are we headed in this direction?

https://scindeks.ceon.rs/article.aspx?artid=0353-90082566369B&lang=en

Artificial intelligence as an instrument of political surveillance in post-conflict societies

This paper explores the profound implications of the application of artificial intelligence (AI) as an instrument of political surveillance in post-conflict societies, with a special focus on the cases of China, Israel, and the countries of the former SFRY, including the sensitive context of Kosovo and Metohija. The analysis adopts a multidisciplinary approach that combines security studies, political theory, digital ethics, and sociological perspectives to understand how AI transforms mechanisms of control, monitoring, and political decision-making. The paper argues that in post-conflict societies, AI is not merely a technological tool but a mechanism for restructuring state sovereignty, narrative control, and institutional dominance over political opponents. Special attention is given to the phenomena of digital authoritarianism, biometric surveillance expansion, algorithmic discrimination, and geopolitical use of data in the context of either stabilization or repression. Through a comparative analysis of China and Israel as leading exporters of AI-based surveillance systems and their diffusion into other parts of the world, including the Balkans, the paper highlights risks to human rights, democracy, and social cohesion. The paper concludes with recommendations for the development of ethical frameworks, regulatory policies, and international standards to curb the misuse of AI in fragile democracies and post-conflict zones.

Perspective.

https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2025/10/05/from-swords-to-algorithms-reimagining-sun-tzu-in-the-age-of-ai/

From Swords to Algorithms: Reimagining Sun Tzu in the Age of AI

… During the times of Sun Tzu, victory depended on terrain, rivers, mountains, and fortresses. The digital terrain is the decisive one in the era of AI. The superlatives of a modern war are data. The person who determines data flows, network infrastructure, and algorithmic dominance sets the stage of the war. This change has been explicitly proclaimed by the doctrine of intelligent warfare by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). This doctrine focuses on the ability to integrate AI in all the facets of the military operations, including logistics and self-directed weapons. To China, it is better to have superiority in algorithms rather than superiority in weaponry.

This logic can be reflected in the U.S. in terms of Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2). It aims to combine the information obtained on land, sea, air, space, and cyber into a single system, but with the help of AI. JADC2 seeks to reduce the OODA loop (observe, orient, decide, act) by a factor of time and beyond the capability of adversaries to react.

The concept of terrain control in Sun Tzu has taken on a new meaning to guarantee the integrity of data, cyber dominance, and information superiority. Algorithms dictate supply lines, just as rivers did in the past. Algorithms dictate who sees, decides, and acts first.