Can AI solve Ukraine war? I asked five chatbots the same question and here's what they said. But there's a problem...

Artificial Intelligence chatbots these days can answer anything for you. I wanted to see if they can solve one of the most complex issues in today's world, the Russia-Ukraine war. I found most answers to be similar, exposing the biases and sources of these chatbots. And I found a key gap in all the answers. Let me break it down for you.

I started with Gemini, and here's what it said on resolving Ukraine war

Gemini, the chatbot owned by Google parent Alphabet, called Ukraine war "deeply complex, shaped by long-standing security, territorial, and political disputes," (as if I didn't know that). It said peace will need to address five core issues:

1. Territorial disputes:

Ukraine is seeking the return to its 1991 borders and rejects territorial concessions, while some proposals suggest land-for-peace compromises.

2. Security guarantees:

Ukraine seeks strong Western-backed protections against future aggression by Russia. Full NATO membership for Ukraine is unlikely, but alternatives include NATO-like arrangements, whereas Russia opposes any NATO ties for Ukraine, given its own national security concerns.

3. Ceasefire:

A pause in war is a first step, but timing and conditions are still disputed. While Ukraine favours an immediate ceasefire, Russia continues fighting even during negotiations.

4. Sanctions and legal issues:

Western sanctions on Russia are central to peace talks, and a deal will have to balance sanctions relief with upholding international law regarding Russia’s occupation.

5. Demilitarisation and neutrality:

Russia wants Ukraine to stay out of NATO and adopt armed neutrality, which some say would be similar to Switzerland.

What are the obstacles for peace?

Mutual distrust due to failed past agreements like the Minsk Accords, and conflicting goals are the impediments.
Russia wants control and limits to Ukraine’s Western alignment, while Kyiv insists on full sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Domestic politics in all involved nations are shaping public opinion and negotiation limits.

What did other chatbots say about resolving the Ukraine war?

After checking with Gemini, I went to four other chatbots: ChatGPT, Grok, Perplexity AI and DeepSeek AI. To my surprise, most of them gave similar answers, and even their sources were similar (more about that later). So for your easy understanding, I only picked what’s different in their answers.

ChatGPT's new suggestions included step-by-step negotiations, more prisoner exchanges, creation of demilitarised zones, reconstruction of Ukraine through frozen Russian assets, more autonomy/federalisation, reconciliation, and Global South diplomacy.

Grok suggested the introduction of some kind of ceasefire monitoring technology, temporary territorial leases, bilateral pacts, advanced military support, punishing Russia’s enablers, creation of buffer zones, and so on.

Perplexity AI advocated incremental peace steps instead of a complete end to the war, a legal referendum (but it also talked about hurdles), direct talks between Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, and detailed international mediation proposals, among other things.

DeepSeek stressed the emphasis on war fatigue in Ukraine and sought a balance between justice and realism.

What’s the problem with AI answers to the Ukraine war question?

With minor exceptions, most of the AI bots dipped into the same sources. This shows the limitations in AI model training. Russian arguments and sources were almost nil. This also reflects that Ukraine won the propaganda war while Russia, in spite of having a massive state media apparatus, could not bring its argument to the limelight. Clearly, a shadow banning of Russian outlets online by the search engines, owned by the very players who also the parents of most of these chatbots, is playing a role. Therefore, one would not hear much about the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine, which possibly wanted self-rule or autonomy for years. Russia's security concerns about being surrounded by NATO or West-aligned nations is decades old. That concern did not find enough stress in the answers.

So what do I make of AI answers to Ukraine war?

Much of AI answers are shaped by what they refer to: mostly Western media and Western digital outlets and reference sites. A balanced approach is lacking and pro-West bias is evident. Any solution to the war as given by the chatbots will not be agreeable to Russia. It exposes the need for a deeper understanding of the long-standing issues between Russia and the West that ignited the conflict. Moscow sees Ukraine as the amplifier of Western military interests across its border. Putin's lifelong fear was the flanking of his nation by the West. Those fears, which are at the core of his decision to invade Ukraine, did not find mention in the AI answers.

I'd better head to the library.