15 August 2024

Army Intel Sees Huge “Dichotomy” Separating US & Chinese Concepts of AI in Warfare

Kris Osborn

The Pentagon is preparing to fight large terminator-type armies of autonomous armed robots, given the pace at which AI is being accelerated and integrated into weapons systems and military technologies. It may seem like a sci-fi kind of Hollywood exaggeration, but the technology to do this … .or something close to this … is basically here and improvements in AI-enabled algorithms are arriving quickly. While the US is carefully weighing the implications of these kinds of emerging technologies and the tactical, ethical and conceptual complexities they present, there is little assurance that potential adversaries will view these variables through a similar ethical lens. This is widely known and discussed, therefore weapons developers, tacticians, technologists and warfare Commanders in all the US services are aware of the need to prepare to fight armed robots.

A significant Army intelligence report adds depth and context to these concerns by pointing to a massive discrepancy between US and Chinese concepts of warfare decision-making as it pertains to advancing technology. The text of the report, titled “The Operational Environment 2024-2034 Large-Scale Combat Operations.” (US Army Training and Doctrine Command, G2) describes this juxtaposition in terms of a “dichotomy” …. A term used to describe a massive “divergence” between US and Chinese conceptual and doctrinal approaches to the use of AI, computer automation and autonomy. Portions of the report discuss the many variables related to both the “art” and “science” of war separating Chinese from US strategic and tactical warfare thinking.

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