The Impact of AI on the Cyber Offense-Defense Balance and the Character of Cyber Conflict

Reports

The Impact of AI on the Cyber Offense-Defense Balance and the Character of Cyber Conflict

Andrew Lohn

April 17, 2025

Unlike other domains of conflict, and unlike other fields with high anticipated risk from AI, the cyber domain is intrinsically digital with a tight feedback loop between AI training and cyber application. Cyber may have some of the largest and earliest impacts from AI, so it is important to understand how the cyber domain may change as AI continues to advance. Our approach reviewed the literature, collecting nine arguments that have been proposed for offensive advantage in cyber conflict and nine proposed arguments for defensive advantage.

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