by Erick Nielson C. Javier
Abstract: As the employment of military AI makes headlines in conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, Southeast Asian militaries too are showing increasing interest in the technology. This paper investigates the possible rationales and use cases for AI in select Southeast Asian militaries. AI in mission command, surveillance, and select weapons systems, may help meet territorial defence needs, as well as ensure technological relevance, and influence norms for military AI use at the regional level. However, technical, operational and materiel challenges will need to be addressed to fully realize AI’s potential for Southeast Asian defence forces, while minimizing potential vulnerabilities.
Keywords: military artificial intelligence, AI in defence, AI in warfare, military uses of AI, Southeast Asia military AI, AI for national defence
