How AI is changing warfare
An AI-assisted general staff may be more important than killer robots
IN LATE 2021 the Royal Navy approached Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, a pair of American tech giants, with a question: Was there a better way to wage war? More specifically, could they find a more effective way to co-ordinate between a hypothetical commando strike team in the Caribbean and the missile systems of a frigate? The tech firms collaborated with BAE Systems, a giant armsmaker, and Anduril, a smaller upstart, among other military contractors. Within 12 weeks—unfathomably fast in the world of defence procurement—the consortium gathered in Somerset in Britain for a demonstration of what was dubbed StormCloud.
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This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Model major-general”
From the June 22nd 2024 edition
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