THIS WEEK IN AI
Candice Bryant Consulting
Strategic Intelligence & Public Affairs
AI AT WAR
Every generation of military technology has sought to put distance between the warfighter and the battlefield. AI is the next iteration.
This week, I'm tracking AI at War. For those already across the headlines, skip to "What I'm Watching" for insights, including why some envision a humanless battlefield.
Epic Fury — The Washington Post reported the U.S. military has "leveraged the most advanced artificial intelligence it's ever used in warfare" in Operation Epic Fury, striking over 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours. According to the same reporting, Palantir's Maven Smart System is generating real-time targeting from classified satellite and surveillance data, with Anthropic's AI embedded in the system — even as the company sues the Pentagon over its supply chain risk designation.
WHAT I'M WATCHING
There's a saying that somewhere in the world, a 19-year-old is holding a rifle, ready to die for you. My husband was 17 when he raised his right hand. Two years later, the towers came down and he went to war.
Every generation of military technology has sought to put distance between the warfighter and the battlefield — from precision weapons to aerial drones and unmanned vehicles. AI is the next chapter in this story.
Researchers are already exploring how AI could help medics treat wounded soldiers when evacuation isn't possible or lighten the cognitive load on troops making life-or-death decisions. Longer term, some envision a future with no human soldiers on the battlefield at all.
If this technology can save lives, don't we have an obligation to use it? Aren't there some jobs we want AI to take?
Despite lawsuits and supply chain risk designations, the Pentagon and Silicon Valley aren't on opposite sides of this. No one is suggesting AI doesn't belong in defense.
But there are important questions around reliability and oversight, as well as some philosophical ones scholars have been asking for years — like if war stops costing American lives, do we start more of them? Does the cost just shift to the other side of the battlefield?
Of the seven American soldiers killed in the Iran conflict, the youngest was only 20. Four in ten active duty service members are 25 or younger. The one thing everyone can agree on: we want fewer of them in harm's way.
— Candice
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