Yes, artificial intelligence (AI) can be applied to modify and manipulate adversary satellite imagery in real time, potentially misleading strategic decisions. This technique is known as “satellite image manipulation” or “satellite imagery doctoring.” Here’s a quick overview of how it works and its potential impacts: **Methods:** 1. **Image processing**: AI algorithms can modify satellite imagery in real time, changing the picture depicted by adjusting pixel values, denoising, or applying filters to the image. 2. **Deepfakes**: AI models, such as generative adversarial networks (GANs), can generate pixel-realistic fake images that are learned from real images to make them look very realistic. 3. **Data injection**: Attackers can modify an image’s metadata, such as timestamps or geolocation, to further deceive about what the original image represents. **Potential outcomes:** 1. **Strategic decisions**: By manipulating satellite imagery, adversary military leaders can make incorrect judgments about things like battlefields, troop deployments, or critical infrastructure, leading to poor decisions and potentially compromising national security. 2. **Intelligence collection**: Manipulated images can mislead intelligence analysts, leading to incorrect conclusions and possible misjudgments. 3. **Sabotage**: Manipulated images can also be used to undermine public trust in institutions or governments, create rumors, and erode credibility. **Detection and Mitigation:** 1. **Image Disinformation Detection**: Researchers have developed various methods to detect image tampering using machine learning and deep learning techniques, including analyzing pixels, textures, and image statistics. 2. **Digital Watermarking**: Digital watermarks can be embedded in images to detect tampering and verify their authenticity. 3. **Multi-Source Verification**: An additional way to verify the authenticity of an image is to cross-verify it with information from other sources, such as other satellites, drones, or ground sensors. 4. **Encryption and Security Protocols**: Implementing secure transmission and storage protocols, such as encryption and secure communication protocols, can help prevent unauthorized access and tampering. **Real-World Scenarios:** 1. **2019 Al Printing Factory Destruction**: Israel reportedly carried out an attack on Iranian targets in Syria and manipulated satellite images of the Syrian military to delay detection. 2. **Russia-Ukraine Conflict**: The Russians have been accused of using AI-generated imagery as a propaganda tool to create fake evidence to support their claims. In summary, AI can have a significant impact in modifying and manipulating adversary satellite imagery in real time, which highlights the importance of detecting and mitigating the resulting tampering. As AI technology continues to advance, ensuring the authenticity and integrity of satellite imagery becomes critical.