The writer is a columnist at Le Monde
When Vladimir Putin brought high-intensity war back to Europe by invading Ukraine in 2022, he also brought back memories of the devastating human cost of previous conflicts. Surely, in the digital age, this one would be different. But soon enough, experts described the war in Ukraine as a mix of the first world war with trenches, the second with tanks, and a war of the future with 21st-century technology.
Now in its fifth year, the conflict has taken another turn. Tanks are gone, and have been replaced with drones and robots. Drones do everything: deliver food and explosives, move equipment, destroy targets, kill. For the first time ever, Russian soldiers have surrendered to drones on the battlefield. In record time, drones and AI have revolutionised the art of war.