Two Sides of the Same Coin

 A day ago, on 9th October 2145, General Prabhakar had been in the heart of the Kashmir War. He had been ordering his men to do their work, organising supplies and ensuring the safety of refugees. He had earned much respect from his men for his calm demeanour even in desperate situations, and was proud of his ability to stay rational.

But after being called away from the field at a critical time, this ability of his was beginning to feel tested. The Indian general was sure there were many other officers in the military who were far better-equipped than him to deal with meetings and conferences, yet he had been ordered to attend one of them in New Delhi. However, this provided him with an opportunity he didn’t have previously. An opportunity to end the war altogether.

“Troop morale is at an all-time low!” General Lakhan announced, her booming voice shaking him out of his thoughts. “The video released on social media platforms a week ago caused immense turmoil across the country.”

Prabhakar scoffed, remembering the video his deputy had shown him. After berating the boy for slacking off instead of doing his duties, the general had watched the video in privacy. He would never admit it though, since the boy would be encouraged to continue the habit.

At first, he had the same thoughts as the many civilians who had watched it before him. He was shocked. No, he was devastated, and very confused. The prime minister himself was announcing a cease-fire and surrender. But after a little thought, he realised that he would be one of the first to be informed of such a decision, given his importance to the conflict.

The CBI quickly released a report after analysis using IATD-AI (Image Analysis and Tampering Detection AI), declaring the video was an AI-made fake, as could be seen by the six fingers on one of the prime minister’s hands. But the damage was done, and an AI analysis couldn’t fix it. The video was so realistic that most people believed it at first and even second glance. The mannerisms, body language, and way of speaking had been perfectly mimicked.

Gossip spread like wildfire, and the people were outraged. The flames died down after a bit, but it had its consequences. Although the CBI announced that they were still searching for the creators of the video, the public had many opinions about who the perpetrators may be. It was widely believed that ORION had been used to make the video, an illegal AI website that had been banned from the country five years ago for unethical practices.

The politicians and army officials filling the rooms began to whisper amongst themselves. From what Prabhakar could see, there were two major groups being formed. One campaigned for the end of the Kashmir War, while the other wanted it to continue in the name of patriotism.

Thejas Chakrapani, a famously anti-war politician, stood up with a determined look on his face. “This war must stop now. Two years, and the military has accomplished nothing. China will soon enter this conflict as well, having ended its civil war. We’re barely hanging on as it is,” With a pause, and a glance around the room, Thejas furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m sure General Prabhakar, as an eminent figure in the war, will be able to attest to this.”

Even with the unexpected mention of his name, the general remained cool and collected. After all, it may have been unexpected to everyone else, but he had expected it. He had even requested for this, in a private meeting with the man. He shuffled through the papers on his desk, and spoke into the mic. “I have reports here, generated by ACAD (Armed Conflict Analysis Device) AI, the conflict analysis AI. Of course, verified by my officers as well.”

“We have made no progress. The border remains as uncertain as it was before the war, and according to the analyses by ACAD. There have been an unnecessary number of deaths, and there is now a lack of supplies. The mountainous terrain and harsh climate has claimed more lives than guns. We asked ACAD to generate some recommendations, but they were not considered viable.

According to another analysis by ReliefAI, the humanitarian-aid centred AI states that we don’t have the resources to give the Kashmiri refugees aid, and to also participate in the conflict. Soon, we won’t be able to transport weapons or supplies anywhere, with the snow and ice creating difficulties. Our food stocks are running low, and we can’t give adequate shelter to the people now that the freezing winter is arriving.”

There was silence for a few moments. Far from the harsh battlefield, they may not have realised the desperation of the situation. But now, it was time to consider an end to the war. Unfortunately, there are always obstacles in the way.

“Why should we trust AI?” Demanded a politician from Nagaland, her eyes narrowed. “We don’t even know if it’s hallucinating or not!”

Prabhakar was used to hearing such opinions in the army. He was ready with a reply even before the question was asked. “We don’t trust it, of course. That’s why it goes through several rounds of expert verification before it’s even considered. We never use AI for emergency situations where experts can’t review their work.” With a final smile before he sat down, the general looked around the room. “We never let AI make decisions. Only humans can make the final choices.”

_________________________________________________________________________

“We must never allow AI to make decisions again,” Fatima Mirza, the Pakistani Prime Minister declared. “This war has been a mess from start to finish, and that has not been helped by CITE.”

Unlike the public conference happening in India at the same time, this was a more private gathering in Islamabad. Only three people sat solemnly, the grim atmosphere a stark contrast with the plush armchairs and crackling fireplace.

Ali Chaudhry would like to think he was calm. He would like to imagine that he gave the powerful woman in front of him a confident smile, and smoothly assuaged her concerns. Sadly, this wasn’t the case.

He trembled in his seat. He prided himself in his technical expertise, and now that pride had been proven wrong. “Y-Your forces have been doing really well, madam. CITE has ensured your ability to hold- to hold your own!” Gathering his last vestiges of courage, he looked up from his lap and gave her a defiant look. “Without CITE, the Pakistani army wouldn’t have stood up to the Indian army for this long.”

“Without CITE, we wouldn’t be in a war in the first place,” Fatima counters bluntly, causing the man to shrink into himself once more. “We would have remained in the same ceasefire we have always been in for nearly a hundred years.”

There was silence once more. The crackling fire was the only reason it didn’t feel awkward, but perhaps that was the reason for their meeting occurring in the penthouse of a fancy hotel.

Upon realising that neither of the two were going to speak, the final man decided to weigh in his thoughts. “What’s done is done,” Imran Mirza sighed. “We made a mistake, sister, by putting so much trust in the AI. When it showed us what we wanted to see, we believed it.”

Fatima feels guilty, but she is tired. The mistake she made two years ago, trusting an AI to make a decision, had cost her far too much. She still remembers the fateful day she had received a call from her brother, who had been her go-between with the military.

He had informed her about how the new CITE AI had detected a cyber-attack on their military servers. Fatima had felt a mix of emotions; anger at the audacity to attack during her first year of being Prime Minister, and exhilaration that her decision to contract with an AI producer had turned out to be a good idea.

They asked the AI to put an end to the attack, but that was not its purpose. Crime Investigation and Threat Examination only gave information about a crime taking place. It didn’t have the authority or ability to carry out tasks by itself. So, they instead asked the AI to track down the location of the attackers via the connection, and try to get information on them.

CITE had worked even better than expected. It had led them to the dingy apartment near the servers that would have been the perfect location to carry out the hack from. Though they didn’t find the hackers there, the AI told them that they had detected its tracking and fled before they reached. But, they had already gathered a lot of valuable information, especially about nuclear launch codes.

Fortunately, the AI had hacked their computer’s cameras, and had images of their faces. From the images, they could see three men in Indian Army fatigues, sitting around on laptops in the same apartment they were standing in.

Fatima and Imran had been furious. India had violated a long-held peace treaty by trying to acquire one of the most dangerous weapons in the world. Almost immediately, war was declared on their neighbouring country. But the siblings never informed anyone outside of the FIA about what they had found.

Although they were furious about India’s actions, they knew that if other countries found out about Pakistan’s vulnerability, they would be doomed. So, they used the ruse that they wanted Kashmir. In actuality, they were sending spies to gather India’s launch codes at the same time. That was the only way in which the power balance could go back to normal.

If the spies were ever caught, they were ordered to say that they were gathering information on the enemy army’s actions. If their true intention was found out, the result wouldn’t be pretty.

The war had continued in the same vein for two years. Fatima never suspected a thing. Or at least, not until two weeks ago, when she received a call from the FIA.

The agency informed the prime minister that they had detained and interrogated six men that had sent an anonymous threat to the FIA. They claimed that they had the nuclear launch codes, and were prepared to negotiate. Of course, no negotiation took place. They were immediately tracked down and taken to a secure facility.

They thought that it was a terrible prank at best, or an exaggerated threat at worst. But this was nowhere near reality. Investigation showed that they were telling the truth, and had acquired the codes two years ago. After noticing that they were being tracked, they had escaped and laid low for two years.

All of this coincided uncomfortably well with India’s hack into their servers. That was eventually what led Fatima and Imran to the hotel penthouse they were currently in, in front of the CEO of the small company that sold them CITE AI.

“What didn’t you tell us about the AI?” Sighed the sister in resignation. There was no point in being angry now. “Clearly, something went very wrong that day. Was any of the information we got from it correct? Have we spent two years working on forged data?”

There was a bit of hesitation on Ali’s side, but a stern glare from Imran made him confess. “The CITE AI does what it says,” The timid man explains, not looking up from his hands on his lap. “It detects crimes and threats, and investigates them. It gives you what information it has gathered, and its analysis on the threat.”

“But,” Here, the CEO cringed, but kept speaking. “If it can’t find any information to give you an analysis on.. It- It forges the data.” Seeing the furious looks on the siblings’ faces, he quickly backtracked. “That wasn’t what I intended it to do, I swear! I only checked what the issue might be after you told me, and found out what went wrong.”

Fatima made sure she looked stoic, even if she was fuming internally. It was her fault for trusting an AI so completely. She should have never let it make any decisions. So now, it was time for her to make a decision.

The woman massaged her temples in exhaustion. “We need to get some experts to check that AI’s claims. Who knows what else we got wrong? Oh, there’s so much to do!”

As she stood up to leave, she looked back one last time at her brother. “We’re ending this war today,” She declared, and her brother nodded solemnly. “Imran, send a request for a peace treaty to India. It’s time to make amends.”