Of all the purported uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it would be hard to find one more controversial than its possible use for military purposes. In popular consciousness, the idea of military AI immediately brings to mind the notion of autonomous weapon systems or "killer robots", machines that can …

Of all the purported uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI), it would be hard to find one more controversial than its possible use for military purposes. In popular consciousness, the idea of military AI immediately brings to mind the notion of autonomous weapon systems or "killer robots", machines that can independently target and kill humans. The possible presence of such systems on battlefields has sparked a welcome international debate on the legality and morality of using these weapon systems. The controversies surrounding autonomous weapons, however, must not obscure the fact that like most technologies, AI has a number of non-lethal uses for militaries across the world, and especially for the Indian military. These are, on the whole, not as controversial as the use of AI for autonomous weapons, and, in fact, are far more practicable at the moment, with clear demonstrable benefits.