Tomorrow's wars will be fought with a lethal combination of soldiers, drones, and AI-powered systems. The Internet of Battle Things, as it's being called, is a vast battlefield network of machines and humans -- and the US Army is working to make it a reality. In what reads like a list of kill-streak perks in a Call of Duty game, the Army described what the "things" in its "Internet of Battle Things" would be in a just-released white paper: Most of such intelligent things will not be too dissimilar from the systems we see on today's battlefield, such as unattended ground sensors, guided missiles (especially the fire-and-forget variety) and of course the unmanned aerial systems (UAVs). They will likely include physical robots ranging from very small size (such as an insect-scale mobile sensors) to large vehicle that can carry troops and supplies. Some will fly, others will crawl or walk or ride.

Numerous, artificially intelligent, networked things will populate the battlefield of the future, operating in close collaboration with human warfighters, and fighting as teams in highly adversarial environments. This paper explores the characteristics, capabilities and intelligence required of such a network of intelligent things and humans - Internet of Battle Things (IOBT). It will experience unique challenges that are not yet well addressed by the current generation of AI and machine learning.

As US Army researcher believes that wars will be fought with human soldiers commanding a team of'physical and cyber robots' to create a network of "Internet of Battle Things" in the future. "Internet of Intelligent Battle Things (IOBT) is the emerging reality of warfare," as AI and machine learning advances Alexander Kott, chief of the Network Science Division of the US Army Research Laboratory. He envisions a future where physical robots are able to fly, crawl, walk, or ride into battle. The robots as small as insects can be used as sensors, and the ones as big as large vehicles can carry troops and supplies. There will also be "cyber robots", basically autonomous programmes, used within computers and networks to protect communications, fact-check, relay information, and protect other electronic devices from enemy malware. "In order to be effective in performing these functions, battle things will have to collaborate with each other, and also with the human warfighters.

As US Army researcher believes that wars will be fought with human soldiers commanding a team of'physical and cyber robots' to create a network of "Internet of Battle Things" in the future. "Internet of Intelligent Battle Things (IOBT) is the emerging reality of warfare," as AI and machine learning advances Alexander Kott, chief of the Network Science Division of the US Army Research Laboratory. He envisions a future where physical robots are able to fly, crawl, walk, or ride into battle. The robots as small as insects can be used as sensors, and the ones as big as large vehicles can carry troops and supplies. There will also be "cyber robots", basically autonomous programmes, used within computers and networks to protect communications, fact-check, relay information, and protect other electronic devices from enemy malware. "In order to be effective in performing these functions, battle things will have to collaborate with each other, and also with the human warfighters.

Numerous, artificially intelligent, networked things will populate the battlefield of the future, operating in close collaboration with human warfighters, and fighting as teams in highly adversarial environments. This paper explores the characteristics, capabilities and intelligence required of such a network of intelligent things and humans – Internet of Battle Things (IOBT). It will experience unique challenges that are not yet well addressed by the current generation of AI and machine learning.