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"Such innovation represents our coming danger," cautions Serhiy Beskrestnov, who recently obtained a newly intercepted Russian unmanned aerial vehicle.

It was no ordinary drone either, he discovered. Assisted by AI, this drone can find and strike objectives autonomously.

The consultant has inspected numerous drones in his role as the nation's defence forces consultant.

In contrast to previous versions, it didn't send or accept any signals, causing it to could not disrupted.

Russian and Ukrainian militaries have both been experimenting with AI in this war, and in some areas are now using it, for finding targets, intelligence collection and clearing mines.

And for the Ukrainian army, AI has become essential.

"The military gets over 50,000 footage feeds [from the battlefield] every month that get analysed by AI," states the defense official.

"It helps us rapidly process this massive data, identify targets and place them on a digital chart."

AI-Driven Tech as a Strategic Tool

AI-enhanced technology is seen as a tool that can enhance military strategy, make the most of resources and ultimately save lives.

But when it comes to unmanned weapons systems, it's revolutionizing the warzone.

The country's soldiers currently employ AI-based software so that drones fix on a objective and then fly autonomously for the last few hundred metres till the mission concludes.

Signal disruption is impossible and shooting down such tiny airborne device proves difficult.

In the future such technologies will likely evolve into completely independent weapons that are able to detect and destroy objectives by themselves.

All a soldier must do is tap a button on a smartphone app, explains a tech executive, head of Ukrainian developer.

It handles the rest, he says, finding the target, releasing munitions, assessing the impact and then returning to headquarters.

"And it would not even require piloting skills from the user," he continues.

Defensive Systems and Upcoming Developments

Defensive unmanned craft with such autonomous capability could greatly enhance air defences targeting enemy long-range attack drones, such as the infamous Shaheds.

"A computer-guided self-operating unit is better than a person in numerous aspects," explains the executive. "It can be more perceptive. It detects the objective sooner than a person. It is more agile."

The official says that kind of system does not exist yet, but he mentions Ukraine is nearing completing its creation. "We have partly implemented it in some devices," says the representative.

There could even be thousands of these technologies deployed by the year 2026, predicts Azhnyuk.

Concerns and Risks of Full Autonomy

But Ukrainian developers are cautious about completely relying on military technologies that rely entirely on AI, with no operator input. The risk is AI may fail to distinguish a Ukrainian soldier from a hostile combatant, since both could be wearing the same uniform, says an engineer, who declined to give his surname.

The firm makes remote-operated machine guns, that employ artificial intelligence to autonomously identify individuals and follow them. Due to concerns over friendly fire, he says they avoid including an automatic shooting option.

"It can be activated, but we must get more experience and additional input from the ground forces to understand when it is safe to use this feature."

Moral Concerns and Global Regulations

Additionally, there are concerns that automated systems could breach the rules of war. How will they avoid injuring civilians, or distinguish soldiers who want to surrender?

For the deputy defence minister, the final decision in these cases should rest with a person, although AI could make it "easier to decide". But there are no guarantees that states or militant factions will adhere to global humanitarian standards.

So neutralizing such technologies is increasingly critical.

How do you halt a "mass of unmanned craft" when electronic warfare or using aircraft, tanks or rockets is rendered ineffective?

Ukraine's highly successful "Web" operation, when 100 drones attacked enemy military airports in June, was probably assisted by artificial intelligence.

Many in Ukraine worry that Moscow will copy this approach, not only on the front line but further afield as well.

Ukraine's leader warned the United Nations recently that AI was fueling "the worst weapons competition in history."

He called for global rules for the use of AI in weapons, and said the issue is "just as urgent as preventing the proliferation of atomic arms."