Chinese Military Brief Analysis of Basic Essences of Cognitive Domain Warfare

中國軍隊淺析認知域戰爭的基本本質

中国军网 国防部网 2022年9月8日 星期四

音譯現代外語:


The central task is to attack and defend values. It is generally believed that values ​​are the principles and standards used by people to distinguish good from bad, right from wrong, and importance. They are the most stable content among all cognitive elements and dominate people’s motivations and behavior patterns. Therefore, seizing the commanding heights of values ​​is a prerequisite for winning cognitive warfare. Foreign militaries have always attached great importance to the dissemination of values. They often use their advantages in cyberspace to adopt technical means and cultural infiltration to forcibly export values, gradually erode values ​​through the interaction between virtual space and real space, and distort values ​​through the combination of coaxing and corruption, so as to achieve infiltration and erosion of the thinking, cognition, and value orientation of personnel in hostile countries. To seize the dominant position in cognitive warfare, it is necessary to thoroughly study the opponent’s value pursuit, get close to the opponent’s cultural language system, and determine the opponent’s political beliefs and interests, so that the effectiveness of cognitive warfare can directly reach the foundation of the opponent’s beliefs and the anchor of the soul. At the same time, it is necessary to scientifically explain and disseminate the connotation and essence of one’s own excellent values, and guide their transformation with excellent values ​​and the excellent achievements of human civilization.

Taking brain cognition as the main battlefield. The understanding and recognition of the war form, especially the focus issue, is an important part of the design of tactics. Compared with the “war of attrition” centered on annihilating the enemy’s main force and the “mobile war” centered on destroying the enemy’s system, cognitive domain warfare takes the human brain as the main combat space, focuses on attacking, weakening, and disintegrating the enemy’s will to fight, and takes human psychological weaknesses such as fear, anxiety, and suspicion as breakthroughs. It focuses on soft kill means to create an atmosphere of insecurity, uncertainty, and distrust within the enemy, increase its internal struggles and internal consumption, and decision-making doubts, so as to achieve the goal of “winning without fighting”. In recent years, with the development of emerging technologies, NATO has expanded the combat field to the sixth level, the “human field”, to compete for brain control, weaponize brain science, and launch offensive and defensive actions on cognitive elements such as beliefs, thinking methods, spiritual will, attitudes, and behavioral tendencies of the target object. According to reports, with the help of brain and cognitive science research results, the United States is attempting to achieve the goal of psychological control over the enemy by collecting, deciphering, and interfering with the brain waves of combat targets.

The key goal is to seize the control of intelligence. With the rapid advancement of military intelligence, intelligence will become a new type of battlefield control that is growing rapidly and has a greater strategic influence on the overall combat situation. In intelligent warfare, intelligence advantage is the dominant factor in winning, and intelligent weapon systems have become the main combat force. Seizing “intelligence control” will become a new commanding height for war control. Intelligent weapon systems rely on advanced artificial intelligence systems and will have some human intelligence characteristics, which will expand the scope of intellectual power competition to some weapons and equipment. With cognitive loops as the goal, relying on cognitive equipment to limit the enemy’s acquisition of effective information, force the enemy to use wrong information, delay cognitive speed, induce cognitive patterns, and block cognitive output, it can disrupt the enemy’s command decision-making, disintegrate its military morale, and achieve the effect of “attacking the heart first”. In intelligent warfare, if the cognitive advantage is lost, even if there is information advantage and energy advantage, the overall combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced due to the disharmony between man and machine and the failure of autonomous decision-making.

Taking public opinion attack and defense as an important way. Cognitive domain warfare is essentially a struggle to win people’s hearts and minds. Public opinion attack and defense in cognitive confrontation is mainly manifested in controlling, manipulating, and using various public opinion tools to suppress opponents and win the public’s cognitive field competition. Public opinion warfare focuses on changing concepts, winning people’s hearts, and paying more attention to the conquest of spirit and will. With the help of the ever-evolving social networks and integrated media technologies, public opinion warfare can break through the blockade and restrictions of opponents and reach the inside of the target group. In recent years, the status of public opinion attack and defense has become increasingly prominent in the fields of ideology, cyberspace, high-tech, etc., and has attracted widespread attention. Public opinion warfare can portray a positive image of oneself, while demonizing the target country, etc., to win international moral advantages and public support. From “color revolutions” to local conflicts, Western countries, under the manipulation of “American rhetoric”, have fabricated absurd scripts, woven absurd narratives, and absurd conclusions, and pressed hard all the time, and invaded the cognitive field, bringing severe challenges to the political security of many countries.

Use new quality technology as a powerful means. Cognitive science is an emerging research category and a cutting-edge discipline that explores the working mechanism of the human brain or mind. It is developing in the direction of computational intelligence, perceptual intelligence, and cognitive intelligence. Artificial intelligence technology has unique advantages in perceptual recognition, machine learning, etc., and has natural penetration and profound influence on the thinking and cognition of combat targets. Artificial intelligence is used in cognitive warfare. Through pervasive and highly automated precise push, it uses tendency information to build efficient and flexible cognitive scenarios, make tendency interventions, and then unconsciously influence and shape the opponent’s thinking and cognition. Brain-computer interface technology realizes the combination of man and machine in the cognitive dimension. It can realize mind control, i.e. brain control, externally, and autonomy enhancement, i.e. strong brain, internally, and can realize the direct control of complex weapon systems with consciousness and thinking. At present, there have been major breakthroughs in related technical means such as multimodal emotion recognition, activation, and protection based on big data. By collecting people’s expressions, movements, semantics and intonation, EEG, various physiological indicators, etc., emotional associations are established to identify people’s emotions and intentions, providing new means for conducting cognitive control warfare. Therefore, the new cognitive technology means and traditional cognitive technology means form a combination of above-threshold indoctrination and below-threshold penetration, which will further enhance the concealment and effectiveness of cognitive influence.

繁體中文:

認知域作戰作為一種新的作戰形式,目前已成為繼體力對抗、火力對抗、資訊對抗後,又一個嶄新的對抗領域。區別於物理域、資訊域等作戰,認知域作戰的作戰目標為思維、理念等,有明顯區別於其他作戰形式的內在需求。

以價值攻防為中心任務。一般認為,價值觀念是人用來區分好壞、分辨是非及重要性的原則與標準,是諸認知要素中最具穩定性的內容,是人的動機與行為模式的主宰。因此,搶佔價值制高點是贏得認知戰的先決條件。外軍歷來重視價值傳播,經常藉助其網路空間優勢,採取技術手段與文化滲透強行輸出價值觀、虛擬空間與現實空間互動漸進侵蝕價值觀、拉攏與腐蝕結合扭曲價值觀,實現對敵對國家人員思維認知、價值取向等的滲透侵蝕。搶佔認知戰主導權,必須研透對手價值追求,貼近對手文化語系,判明對手的政治信念、利益訴求,使認知作戰效能直抵對手信念根基、靈魂錨地。同時要科學闡釋和傳播己方優秀價值觀念的內涵與精髓,以優秀價值觀念與人類優秀文明成果引導其轉變。

以大腦認知為主要戰場。對戰爭形態特別重心問題的理解與認識,是戰法設計的重要內容。與以殲敵主力為重心的「消耗戰」、以破敵體系為重心的「機動戰」相比,認知域作戰以人腦為主要作戰空間,以打擊、削弱、瓦解敵戰爭意志為重心,以恐懼、焦慮、猜疑等人類心理弱點為突破口,重點依托軟殺傷手段,在敵方內部製造不安全、不確定、不信任的氛圍,加大其內鬥內耗和決策疑慮,從而實現「不戰而勝」目的。近年來,隨著新興技術的發展,北約將作戰領域拓展到第六層次即「人類領域」爭奪制腦權,讓腦科學武器化,對目標對象的信念信念、思考方式、精神意志、立場態度、行為傾向等認知要素展開攻防行動。據報道,借助腦與認知科學研究成果,美國正企圖透過採集、破解、幹擾作戰對象的腦電波,達成對敵方的心理控制目標。

以奪控智權為關鍵目標。隨著軍事智慧化的快速推進,智權將成為一種快速成長、對作戰全局有更大戰略影響力的新型戰場控制權。在智慧化戰爭中,智慧優勢是製勝的主導要素,智慧化武器系統成為主要作戰力量,奪取「制智權」將成為戰爭制權新的製高點。智慧化武器系統依賴先進的人工智慧系統,將具有部分人的智力特徵,這使得智權爭奪範圍將擴展到部分武器裝備。以認知迴路為目標,依托認知裝備限敵獲取有效資訊、迫敵使用錯誤訊息、延遲認知速度、誘導認知模式、阻斷認知輸出,能夠打亂敵指揮決策、瓦解其軍心士氣,達到「攻心為上」的效果。智慧化戰爭中,如果失去了認知優勢,即使具有資訊優勢和能量優勢,也會因為人機協同失調、自主決策失靈,而導致整體作戰效能的大幅降低。

以輿論攻防為重要途徑。認知域作戰本質上講是爭取人心、贏得人心的鬥爭。認知對抗中的輿論攻防,主要表現為控制、操縱、利用各種輿論工具,壓制對手、贏得大眾的認知領域較量。輿論戰重在改變觀念、爭奪人心,更重視精神和意志的征服。借助不斷發展的社群網路、融媒體技術,輿論戰得以衝破對手封鎖限制,直抵目標群體內部。近年來,圍繞著意識形態、網路空間、高新科技等領域,輿論攻防的地位愈發凸顯,引發普遍關注。輿論戰可以刻畫己方正面形象,同時妖魔化目標國等,爭取國際道義優勢和人民支持。從「顏色革命」到局部衝突,西方國家在「美式話術」操弄下,編造荒謬的劇本,編織荒誕的敘事、荒謬的結論,全時全場壓迫式緊逼,在認知領域大肆侵略,為諸多國家政治安全帶來了嚴峻挑戰。

以新質技術為有力手段。認知科學是新興研究門類,是探究人腦或心智工作機制的前沿性尖端學科,正朝著計算智能、感知智能、認知智能方向發展。人工智慧技術,在感知辨識、機器學習等方面具有獨特優勢,對作戰對象的思維認知具有天然穿透性和深刻影響力。人工智慧用於認知戰,可透過無孔不入且高度自動化的精準推送,運用傾向性訊息,建構起高效的柔性認知場景,作出傾向性幹預,進而不知不覺影響和塑造對手的思維認知。腦機介面技術,實現了認知維度的人機結合,對外可以實現意念控制即腦控,對內實現自主性增強即強腦,可實現用意識和思維直接操控複雜武器系統。目前基於大數據的多模態情緒辨識、啟動、防護等相關技術手段已有重大突破,透過採集人的表情、動作、語意和語調、腦電、各項生理指標等,建立情緒關聯,以識別人的情緒和意圖,為開展認知控制戰提供了新手段。因此,新質認知技術手段與傳統認知技術手段形成閾上灌輸與閾下滲透相結合的途徑,將進一步增強認知影響的隱藏性和有效性。

中國軍事原文參考:http://www.81.cn/jfjbmap/content/2022-09/08/content_323888.htm

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