Phoenix 24
The battlefield is now cognitive.
Sopot, May 2026
A European lawmaker has warned that artificial intelligence is already being used as a weapon in hybrid warfare, reshaping the way hostile states attack democratic societies without relying only on missiles, drones or conventional military force. Michał Kobosko, a Renew Europe member of the European Parliament, said the threat now extends across disinformation, cyberattacks, economic disruption and public manipulation.
His warning reflects a deeper shift in Europe’s security debate. Artificial intelligence is no longer being treated only as a tool for innovation, productivity or education. It is increasingly understood as a strategic instrument capable of amplifying false narratives, accelerating cyber operations and weakening trust in institutions at a scale that traditional propaganda could not achieve alone.
Kobosko pointed to Russia as a central actor in this new environment, arguing that authoritarian states are using emerging technologies to weaken Western societies from within. The logic is not always to destroy infrastructure directly, but to fracture confidence, confuse public debate and make democratic systems appear slower, weaker and less credible than they really are.
The danger lies in speed. European regulation still moves through institutional procedures, while artificial intelligence evolves in cycles measured in months, not decades. That gap creates a strategic vulnerability: hostile actors can adapt faster than governments can regulate, audit or contain the tools being used against their publics.
The warning also reaches the labor market and the future of expertise. Kobosko argued that many simple tasks will be automated, but highly specialized professions will not disappear overnight. The more urgent issue is whether societies can develop the critical judgment needed to use artificial intelligence without surrendering nuance, context and institutional responsibility to algorithmic output.
Europe’s challenge is therefore not only technological. It is political, cognitive and democratic. In a hybrid war, the target is not just a server, an election or a ministry. The target is the public’s ability to distinguish evidence from manipulation, confidence from panic and reality from engineered noise.
Contra la propaganda, memoria. / Against propaganda, memory.