Dr Sanur Sharma is an Associate Fellow at Strategic Technologies Centre, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA).

Her research interests include AI, Social Media Analytics, Machine Learning, and Information Security.

INDIAai interviewed Sanur Sharma to get her perspective on AI.

From assistant professor to MP-IDSA associate fellow. What was your driving force behind this?

I have been into teaching for about ten years, and during that time, I always felt a keen inclination toward pursuing research. As an assistant professor in my previous organisations, I had a lot of responsibilities apart from conducting lectures, which gave me limited time to work on my research. Hence when I got an opportunity to work in India's one of the premier thinktank, I took it in my stride. My interests and passion have been to do something meaningful for myself and my community that comprehends my expertise, education and field of study at a global level. MP-IDSA gave me a platform to connect with individuals and organisations on a larger scale nationally and internationally to share my views and research on important and pertinent topics of emerging technologies related to security and defence.

What is your role at MP-IDSA as an associate fellow?

At MP-IDSA, I work as Associate Fellow in the Strategic Technologies Centre. My area of research revolves around emerging and disruptive technologies and their role in defence. My expertise is in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics. Currently, at MP-IDSA, I research AI and its role in defence and security. I cover applications of AI and its effects on Global geopolitics vis-à-vis National Security. In addition, I write for the MP-IDSA website and peer review journals and participate in conferences and events about these topics.  

Were there any interesting challenges you faced during the early stages of social media analytics research to military studies research?

When I started my research on social media in 2010, it was an upcoming area, and minimal people were working on social media security and anonymisation of Social Networks. There was a lot of hype around it with minimal awareness and understanding, which gave me a heightened interest in this field as my master's was in information security. It was the beginning of the exploration of social media for adversaries and service providers, selling this information and data to third parties.

Today with the extensive use of social media and advancement in technologies like AI, IoT and Cyber-Physical systems, when I see it in the context of military studies research, it has (evolved considerably) and comes a long way. However, this area poses a new set of challenges from cyber mass adoption and cyber security issues like bots, malware, use of social media for disinformation and misinformation campaigns, vulnerabilities of the AI systems (data bias, governance and regulation), the role of non-state actors and big tech companies to its broad applicability and large user base. Moreover, the part of data was significant then also and now as well. Therefore, there is a need for the establishment of a holistic data infrastructure, where data is collected, structured, and summarised at an integrated level and made available to all stakeholders in a timely fashion.

In terms of adopting AI technologies, where does the Indian defence stand? How can AI/ML play an essential role in our defence?

India documented its AI journey in 2018 when Nitti Ayog came out with the National Strategy on AI. However, it did not cover the Defence sector and was majorly for the commercial and private sectors (Agriculture, Healthcare, Education, Smart Cities and Infrastructure, Smart Mobility and Transportation). In the Defence sector, India can be seen as a late entrant but has been making decisive steps for matching up the significant powers in terms of investment, indigenous development and bilateral and multilateral partnerships on the adoption of AI. For instance, India and Japan have finalised a cybersecurity agreement to promote cooperation in critical areas such as the 5G network and Artificial Intelligence. Moreover, at the QUAD summit in 2022, AI was the priority topic for discussion.

In defence, AI has applications in Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), military logistics, Integrated Command and Control, Semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles, cyber warfare, information warfare (Deep fakes) and Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems. Countries like the US, China, Europe and Russia invest billions of dollars in AI-enabled Systems.

India is also captivating initiatives in the development and deployment of such systems. DAIC and DAID have Rs 100 crore annual budgets specifically for AI-enabled projects. CAIR (a laboratory of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO)), a primary laboratory for R&D in different areas of Defense Information and Communication Technology (ICT), is developing an Al-based Signal intelligence solution to enhance intelligence collation and analysis capabilities of the armed forces. In July 2022, MoD came out with 75 AI-enabled systems in the Def(Symp) specifically for the defence sector. In addition, 140 AI-enabled sensor systems have across Pakistan and China borders. The Indian Army will soon conduct trials of indigenously developed artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled, uncrewed all-terrain vehicles in Ladakh for surveillance and logistics operations. The military potential of AI can be transformative to national security technology. It is to automate weapon systems and enable predictive maintenance of autonomous military systems (aircraft, combat vehicles and robotic vehicles), estimating failure likelihood and tailor-made maintenance schedules.

How does AI assist Indian defence in adding value and managing risks?

AI has a significant role to play in any country's national security. Due to its dual use, multiple AI-enabled systems are available with state and non-state actors, making it a concerning factor for maintaining strategic stability and deterrence. However, AI governance, ethics, data bias issues and regulations are significant challenges in developing a thriving AI ecosystem in India. For the Indian defence, it is essential to identify these challenges and risks associated with this technology and build trust in AI through awareness, infrastructure development, policy & regulations, research & development, and human resource development. Indigenous development will be a key in adding value to our defence systems, and so will the multilateral and bilateral partnerships towards adopting AI like joint developments, technology sharing and global policy and standardisation.

Everyone acknowledges that machine learning and deep learning are innovative technologies. However, we frequently miss the new issues they present. One of them is the environmental impact of these rapid technologies. What do you think about that?

Well, I agree that these rapid technologies have severe environmental issues like depletion of natural resources and pollution. This issue has also led to the development of environmental technology (green/clean technology), where AI and IoT play a significant role in monitoring, reducing and conserving resources. E.g., Various organisations like Google and Alphabet realised a 15% reduction in data centre energy using deep learning algorithms. Another example of AI is for climate change research to study methane fluxes and the earth's increasing temperature. It is also being used in geosciences for the mining industry (forsee presence of gold mineralisation) and in medical research (drug discovery, early detection of cancer etc.)

Which AI subdomains/subjects do you believe are the most popular among your peers?

AI is an enabler of various technologies. Therefore is used in almost every sector, from the service sector, where we use voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, social media platforms, e-commerce websites, and OTT platforms, to other industries like healthcare, agriculture, climate change and Financial Sector. Some domains of AI which are very popular right now are:

· Autonomous Vehicles, Self-driving cars and robotic systems

· Role of AI in Cyber Security

· Human Behaviour monitoring

· Intelligent Monitoring Systems

· Block-Chain Automation

· ISR and military logistics

Apart from these, the subjects of study in AI that are very popular now are Explainable AI, Deep Learning and Neural Networks, Natural Language Processing and Language Models.

What advice do you have for individuals who aspire to pursue careers in AI research? What are the best paths to advancement?

My advice to young individuals interested in AI would be to develop technical, conceptual and practical skills in AI and machine learning, including analytical ability and interest in programming. Furthermore, I would suggest reading the latest articles and research papers from reputed journals to be updated on the relevant topics and understand the open issues and challenges with AI-enabled systems.

The best path to advancements is through gaining experience by undertaking courses/ a degree in AI and ML and attending international workshops and conferences on AI.

AI has applications all over. Hence with such vast applicability, there is a broad set of job opportunities for Data Scientists, Big data Engineers/Architects, Research Scientists, Business Intelligence Developers, Robotics Engineers and NLP Engineers.

Could you please share a list of essential research journals and books?

· IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence

· Journal of Memory and Language

· International Journal of Robotics Research

· IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems

· Pattern Recognition

· International Journal of Computer Vision

· IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering

Some books

· The Emotion Machine: Commonsense Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of the Human Mind By Marvin Minsky

· Machine Learning (in Python and R) For Dummies

· Artificial Intelligence Engines: A Tutorial Introduction to the Mathematics of Deep Learning

· Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach By Stuart Russell & Peter Norvig