V2K and "Havana Syndrome" - Examples of Cognitive Warfare
Review of paper from "Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Defense", 2023
I would like to share with you an excerpt from a 2023 Conference Paper by Morelle, et.al (a group of French academics and industry scientists)(1) . The second Annual Artificial Intelligence for Defense Summit was held Sept. 6–7 in Oxon Hill, MD and was organized by DAU.(2) DAU (Defense Acquisition University) is a US Government-maintained learning platform delivering continuous learning and support tailored to the needs of the Defense Acquisition Workforce.(3)
The paper at hand attempts to provide a comprehensive definition of Cognitive Warfare, educate on relevant concepts, and give real-life examples of Cognitive Warfare.
“Cognitive warfare is an emerging concept aiming to weaken the enemy in order to gain a tactical or strategic advantage, in the military, economics, gaming, sports and other fields. It encompasses various operations carried out against the human mind, targeting both individual and collective cognition and decision-making. It can be carried out and suffered at different scales, and remotely: populations, soldiers, experts, engineers, technicians, groups or minorities of opinion, ethnic or religious, companies, communities, decision-makers, political, economic, religious, academic or military leaders.”
In order to properly understand the concept of Cognitive Warfare, we need to acknowledge that it relies on NBIC - Convergence of Nano-, Bio-, Internet-, Cognitive technologies working together to exploit attention, cognitive biases, inhibit critical thinking, influence decision-making to discredit, to undermine confidence, to inhibit critical thinking, and trigger or inhibit specific action both at the individual level and at the targeted group level, - authors suggest.
Among Specific Examples of Cognitive Warfare Are:
Cognitive warfare launched contacting directly key individuals. On the 6th of February 2023 in France, several women deputies from the Rassemblement National received a vocal message telling them one of their children was hospitalized, so that they would leave the National Assembly before a critical vote. This was an intimidation attack trying to prevent the targeted people from voting and thus taking their role in a decision. (4)
Another example often used to describe cognitive warfare is Havana Syndrome, which could potentially be a cognitive warfare attack launched using targeted nano or biological tools to induce fear for the key individuals who were targeted and cloud their judgment...
Authors emphasize that Cognitive Warfare can be conducted by anyone, against anyone, and at a distance, and at an individual level. For example, critical individuals (decision-makers, politicians, military leaders, people with influence, experts) can be particularly targeted.
Finally, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is bringing new tools to facilitating cognitive warfare, that can amplify it and make it even more accessible. Effective methods to protect ourselves from the effects of Cognitive Warfare are yet to be developed. Public education is the key to orchestrating successful strategies to combat the reality of this dangerous concept threatening Western societies.
Sources:
Marie Morelle, Cegarra Julien, Damien Marion, André Jean-Marc. Towards a Definition of Cognitive Warfare. Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Defense, DGA Maîtrise de l'Information, Nov 2023, Rennes, France. ⟨hal-04328461⟩
Conferences and Meetings August-September 2023, DAU. https://www.dau.edu/library/damag/september-october2023/conferences-augsept23
“Réforme des retraites : Des députées RN cibles de messages d’intimidation”. Le Monde.fr. (2023, février 7).
"Hypergame Theory: A Model for Conflict, Misperception, and Deception"
"A metagame, known as a hypergame, occurs when one player does not know or fully understand all the strategies of a game. Hypergame theory extends the advantages of game theory by allowing a player to outmaneuver an opponent and obtaining a more preferred outcome with a higher utility."
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/2015/570639
Dr. Robert Duncan; "Refuse to play the game."
Very good information for us to have ; especially from the perspective of the insiders , who can verify the capabilities and intention behind some of these weapons. Thank you.