The Pentagon is increasingly incorporating artificial intelligence, including for what the military calls "maneuver and fires," the part of fighting wars that involves targeting and shooting people. To help ensure that these machines behave ethically, the Pentagon is looking for an AI ethicist to join its new Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. "We're thinking deeply about the safe and lawful use of AI," says Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, in the briefing where he announced the position. Navigating AI ethics for the Pentagon will require safeguarding human and civil rights while keeping pace with AI development in China and Russia, countries whose militaries appear less preoccupied with such rights. Even if the Pentagon develops computer algorithms that are always able to distinguish between enemy targets and noncombatants, there is a risk in developing capabilities that are too effective, says Patrick Lin, a philosophy professor at California Polytechnic State University.