Experts Predict Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Warfare

Army Lt. Gen. John N.T. ''Jack'' Shanahan spoke remotely from the Pentagon yesterday with Dave Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. ''It is my conviction and deep passion that AI will transform the character of warfare in the Department of Defense in the course of the next 20 years,'' Shanahan said. ''There is no part of the department that will not be impacted by this, from the back office to the battlefield, from under sea to cyberspace and outer space, and all points in between.'' Artificial intelligence, often called AI, has been happening in commercial industry, but that effort only started in earnest in the department about 10 years ago, he noted, but ''we've been stuck in first gear in terms of fielding.'' DOD has long struggled with how to take the world's best research and development and field it at speed and at scale, he added.