KYIV — As the future of warfare pivots towards artificial intelligence, Ukraine is sitting on a valuable resource: millions of hours of footage from drones which can be used to train AI models to make decisions on the battlefield.

AI has been deployed by both sides on the battlefield during Russia's invasion of Ukraine to identify targets, scanning images far quicker than a human can.

Oleksandr Dmitriev, founder of OCHI, a non-profit Ukrainian digital system which centralises and analyses video feeds from over 15,000 drone crews working on the frontlines, told Reuters his system had collected two million hours, or 228 years, of battlefield video from drones since 2022.

That will provide vital data for AI to learn from.

"This is food for the AI: If you want to teach an AI, you give it two million hours (of video), it will become something supernatural."

According to Dmitriev, the footage can be used to train AI models in combat tactics, spotting targets and assessing the effectiveness of weapons systems.

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