World Focus from Brussels

Military AI is Shaping Modern Warfare and Posing Tough Questions - An interview with US Ret. Lt. General Jack Shanahan

Sveinn Helgason

Military Artificial Intelligence is already shaping the character of modern warfare, for example in the battlefields of Ukraine and Gaza. The episode focuses on this new arms race and key challenges we face. I attended “Military AI and the Resort to Force,” a conference organized by Centre for Military Studies, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen on 27 February. Multiple speakers grappled with crucial military, ethical, legal and political questions on the use of Military AI and it’s role in decision making by leaders. I interviewed Jack Shanahan, a retired United States Air Force Lieutenant General who the first Director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center at the Pentagon. He delivered the keynote speech at the conference. We discussed how AI military capabilities are evolving, questions of accountability and responsibility and much more.