AI Tanks Are Now Real, See Them In Action
It’s no secret that AI has revolutionized numerous industries, and though most of those revolutionary leaps have been incremental from the consumer perspective, things are a bit different when it comes to industrial or military applications.
While referencing the HK-Tank is an obvious joke and a nod to the Terminator franchise, the fact that Israel unveiled its AI-assisted next-gen Merkava tank remains a cold, hard fact.
Various governments have invested in AI and machine learning technologies for the purpose of defense, which has led to a curious new development. Namely, AI tanks are now a thing; allow us to introduce you to Cyberdyne Systems Series G Tracked Autonomous Fighting Vehicle, also known as the HK-Tank.
While referencing the HK-Tank is an obvious joke and a nod to the Terminator franchise, the fact that Israel unveiled its AI-assisted next-gen Merkava tank remains a cold, hard fact. According to Interesting Engineering, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant introduced the Barak tank as an exceptional leap and expression of the technological capabilities of the Israeli Defense Forces, both in defense and offense.
The new AI tanks are expected to replace all existing Merkava 4 models in the 401st Armored Brigade—one of three armored corps of IDF—by the end of 2025.
This would allow the driver, the gunner, or the commander to rely on sensor data displayed on the screens inside the tank to investigate and eliminate potential threats or make crucial situational decisions.
The Barak AI tanks will come equipped with an IronVision helmet, which is integrated with sensors on the tank’s exteriors, granting the commander a peripheral vision similar to that of a fighter pilot.
This is a significant advance, as it allows those inside the armored vehicle to see outside through cameras and sensors rather than gunner and commander sights and other optical systems—though some of these are most likely retained within the design for redundancy. Whatever the case may be, we can already hear the Terminatortheme playing in the background.
Of course, we’re not talking about AI tanks with decision-making capabilities that can hunt down and eliminate their targets on the battlefield. We’re actually discussing an AI-assisted system incorporated within the tank’s design, which gives the new tank image-processing capabilities that aid the tank’s sensor in recognizing objects and sorting and displaying data.
This would allow the driver, the gunner, or the commander to rely on sensor data displayed on the screens inside the tank to investigate and eliminate potential threats or make crucial situational decisions.
It’s really interesting to see the implementation of new technologies into age-old concepts, such as war. Though most militaries prefer to rely on ancient tech for its robustness and fewer points of failure—at least in most applications—the advent of new technologies such as AI and machine learning has disrupted that trend, and we now have AI tanks and military-grade Minecraft goggles—the latter actually refers to Microsoft signing a $22 billion contract with the US military for the development of AR headsets—the technology for which was initially used to play Minecraft.
The new Israeli AI tank also comes equipped with touchscreens (all hail Star Trek), an operational application store, and a real-time intelligence transfer between different military branches. Does anyone else find the idea of killing machines’ capability to think just a little bit disturbing?
Sure, the idea of Judgement Day is perhaps science fiction, but it only takes one evil coding genius with a USB thumb drive, and the next thing we know, T-888s (the scary ones) are running through the neighborhood.
