In the new 5th-generation warfare, truth became both a casualty and a weapon, as AI-generated content alters the truth to reshape societal beliefs and behaviors that can serve the strategic objectives of aggressors. The human mind is the primary battlefield in cognitive warfare, where AI-generated content plays a central role. AI-driven technologies are escalating interpersonal conflicts into large-scale actions that extend beyond physical confrontations, reshaping identity politics. These advancements are motivated by the creation of compelling false narratives, complicating the ability to discern reality from fabrication.

Transformation Of Warfare 

In the past, national power has depended on geographical advantages, relative military strength, the cohesion of diverse identities, population size, and the alignment of citizens and government. In recent times, these attributes will matter mainly for the impact they have on establishing AI dominance. The competition for artificial intelligence resources, intellectual digital supremacy, and the capacity to restrict competitors' access to these assets will shape the power dynamics of the 21st century.

In contemporary warfare, misinformation, disinformation and propaganda unfold within the digital realm, influencing perceptions and inciting disorder without the need for traditional weaponry. A recently edited AI video of India Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming that New Delhi would "use Afghanistan" to destroy Pakistan has gone viral following the unsuccessful ceasefire discussions in November 2025, and tensions persist between Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, Modi's original speech, given during a Diwali celebration, did not mention Afghanistan or its Taliban government.

The potential to reduce the likelihood of armed conflict exists; however, the human consequences are often more profound and systemic than those of direct violence. The public often experiences confusion, panic, radicalization, and aggression that involve the systematic fabrication of information. This phenomenon is directly affecting the dynamics of cognitive warfare in the region, rooted in group identities.

First South Asian AI Encounter 

The 2025 India-Pakistan conflict represents a pivotal moment in history, being the first extensive confrontation in South Asia to incorporate artificial intelligence into cognitive warfare strategies. In May 2025, as India and Pakistan engaged in airstrikes, a concurrent conflict emerged in the digital realm. This battle was characterized by the proliferation of AI-generated deepfakes, the repurposing of existing footage, and an overwhelming surge of disinformation, all of which contributed to a confusing landscape where the distinction between reality and propaganda became increasingly obscured.

On May 7, 2025, a significant incident occurred involving a recording of Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif. The footage was altered to suggest that he was admitting defeat and expressing disappointment regarding inadequate support from China and the UAE. This is a deepfake, incorporating an AI-generated voice-over. In fact, the original footage depicted Sharif praising the Pakistan Air Force's reaction to India's Operation Sindoor. Similarly, a viral video claims that India's Chief of Defense Staff General Anil Chauhan said seven fighter jets were lost during “Operation Sindoor” against Pakistan in the same month. This allegation was digitally modified, with an AI-generated segment added to Chauhan's New Delhi speech.

Manipulating Cognitive Behavior

Since 2022, text-to-image algorithms have created over 15 billion images. An AI system called OpenAI's DALL-E 2 generates realistic graphics and artwork from natural-language descriptions and has generated 34 million images per day. The South Asian region is also accumulating this advantage, but certain actions are being politically manipulated by dint of AI.

Even reciprocal communal violence is spreading between Bangladesh and India through generative AI tools. Meta AI’s text-to-image generation feature is producing and propagating hate against Muslim minorities in India, which is creating an anti-India narrative in Bangladesh. Similarly, Several AI-generated images were found circulating on X and Facebook showing burning temples and torched bodies of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh, shaping grievance against Bangladeshis in India.

The primary objective is to advance the current xenophobic narrative that is influencing structural violence and manipulating cross-cultural cognitive behavior. This manipulation can subsequently be utilized as a strategic tool in cognitive warfare, as already seen in the war between India and Pakistan.

Deliberate Orchestration Of AI

Cognitive warfare has seen the emergence of advanced technologies that can fabricate speeches of military or political leaders, utilize AI voice cloning and lip-sync technology. Recently, a similar deepfake of India's Deputy CDS General Rahul R Singh was published, where he purportedly admitted to losing S-400 defense systems to Chinese missiles used by Pakistan. These fabricated narratives can seem disturbingly believable when they repeatedly appear on social media. This is called the “Illusory Truth Effect”. The diverse array of faces, voices, and environments is predominantly generated by Veo, a text-to-video model developed by Google. This manipulation extends to creating false visualizations of public movements or attacks. Such tactics lend credibility to falsehoods, ultimately leading individuals to rely more on manipulated narratives than on objective truths.    

When Efficiency Beats Ethics  

Knowledge is power, and power requires legitimacy. If AI is an evaluation of digital knowledge, then legitimacy concerns centered on its potential to spread deepfakes and propaganda in politics. A prioritization of efficiency over ethical considerations increasingly characterizes the landscape of South Asian politics. In a region where high internet penetration coincides with low levels of media and digital literacy, the future of warfare in South Asia will be of significant concern.

If the impact factor increases at a faster pace in the future, the dynamics of identity politics may be influenced by the realm of AI politics. This could result in structural damage that proves more detrimental than direct acts of violence, in line with the ideas of prominent peace and conflict scholar Johan Galtung. Direct violence is the deliberate infliction of harm, whereas structural violence functions as an ongoing process that perpetually limits opportunities and diminishes the lifespan of individuals. This concept paves the way for a deeper exploration of the influence of artificial intelligence and social oppression within South Asian politics.

(The author is a Master's Student in the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at xakib07@gmail.com )