It's a simple fact, says General John "Mike" Murray, we're going to have to learn to trust artificial intelligence in the battlefield. And that means, the rules governing human control over artificial intelligence might need to be relaxed. Speaking from Austin, Texas, at The Future Character of War and the Law of Armed Conflict online event, Murray provided a future battle scenario involving the rapid advance of artificial intelligence in the US military and the ethical challenges it presents. "If you think about things like a swarm of, let's say a hundred semi-autonomous or autonomous drones, some lethal, some sensing, some jamming, some in command and control -- think back to the closing ceremony of the Seoul Olympics. "Is it within a human's ability to pick out which ones have to be engaged and then make 100 individual engagement decisions against a drone swarm?" said Murray, Commander, Army Future Command (AFC). "And is it even necessary to have it a human in the loop, if you're talking about affects against an unmanned platform or against a machine.

The contest between China and America, the world's two superpowers, has many dimensions, from skirmishes over steel quotas to squabbles over student visas. Both countries are investing large sums in militarised artificial intelligence (ai), from autonomous robots to software that gives generals rapid tactical advice in the heat of battle. China frets that America has an edge thanks to the breakthroughs of Western companies, such as their successes in sophisticated strategy games. America fears that China's autocrats have free access to copious data and can enlist local tech firms on national service. Neither side wants to fall behind.

THE CONTEST between China and America, the world's two superpowers, has many dimensions, from skirmishes over steel quotas to squabbles over student visas. Both countries are investing large sums in militarised artificial intelligence (AI), from autonomous robots to software that gives generals rapid tactical advice in the heat of battle. China frets that America has an edge thanks to the breakthroughs of Western companies, such as their successes in sophisticated strategy games. America fears that China's autocrats have free access to copious data and can enlist local tech firms on national service. Neither side wants to fall behind.

Bruce Newsome reviews the recently published book: "Strategy, Evolution, and War: From Apes to Artificial Intelligence," authored by Kenneth Payne and published by Georgetown University Press. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been explicit in the practices and policies of defence since at least the 1970s, at least in high-capacity countries, given the exponential growth in the power of electronic computing per unit cost. It was already specified in training and forecasting simulations, decision-making aids, targeting aids, robotics, adaptive navigation systems (as in the Tomahawk Cruise Missile), and ballistic missile defence. Any child with a video game could experience AI. AI raced up Western governmental priorities in the 2000s by application to countering terrorism; in 2009, the US escalated its cyber capabilities and authorities, partly on the promise of AI; in 2014, the Russians seemed to know first what the defenders of Ukraine were doing, in part because of integration of AI; and in 2016, Western governments consensually blamed Russia for unprecedented interference in American and other elections, partly aided by AI.