Although not an official term, MAID (Missiles, Artificial Intelligence and Drones) has become an “analytical shorthand” in military and academic circles, used to describe the convergence of three technologies and its impact in warfare.

Over the years, there has been a noticeable increase in the confluence of advanced technology and military operations. Be it the Ukraine-Russian war or the Israel-Hamas war, the use of AI assisted drones and missile launches has set alarm bells ringing, with unavoidable questions raised on the autonomy granted to machines in armed fighting.

While unmanned drones excel in surveillance and missiles bring long range lethality, the duo had been traditionally heavily dependent on human decision making during operations.

However, modern warfare has now started to implement AI for target recognition and “swarming” coordinated movement of drones along with machine learning enhanced missile guidance systems.

While the emergence of MAID has undoubtedly given lethal advantage to militaries, its use against civilian-insurgent mixed populations has drawn sharp criticism globally.

The United Nations Secretary General and the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross have urged nation states to come to an agreement to ban unpredictable autonomous weapons and that the requirement of human control over the use of force be mandated by 2026 which will be legally binding.