I think it’s a mistake to look at this globally. What is relevant, especially for older conflicts, is the local outcome. For the participants in the conflict in question, what was the outcome for the militarily inferior force? The answer is sometimes surrender, sometimes enslavement, sometimes slaughter.
If the AI wants human servants, which I expect it will for a temporary transition period, it can use BCIs and mind control viruses (e.g. optogenetics) to literally turn humans into permanent mind slaves. It can use horrific civilization-ending bioweapons as a threat to keep unconquered nations from interfering.
When the balance of power shifts, which it does, the losers tend to have a very bad time.
I think it’s a mistake to look at this globally. What is relevant, especially for older conflicts, is the local outcome. For the participants in the conflict in question, what was the outcome for the militarily inferior force? The answer is sometimes surrender, sometimes enslavement, sometimes slaughter. If the AI wants human servants, which I expect it will for a temporary transition period, it can use BCIs and mind control viruses (e.g. optogenetics) to literally turn humans into permanent mind slaves. It can use horrific civilization-ending bioweapons as a threat to keep unconquered nations from interfering. When the balance of power shifts, which it does, the losers tend to have a very bad time.