An Army of Humans and Machines Working Together

New America Strategist and Arizona State University Professor of Practice Peter W. Singer wrote for National Defense Magazine on what the future might hold for the U.S. Army as it turns 250 years old in June.

There are many ways the Army of tomorrow might similarly appear different from today’s force. As technology advances, especially in AI and robotics, roles ranging from combat arms to logistics and medicine are transforming via human-machine teaming. The technologies in the Army to come will not simply be used by a soldier, but work for a soldier, alongside a soldier, and even in certain roles replace a soldier. Long beloved weapons and even unit types will be replaced, just as today’s Army no longer has horse-riding dragoons. These transformed or even completely new Army unit types will make the doctrine of multidomain operations real, bringing together ground, air, cyber, and EW capabilities. Their greater power and reach will create the inverse of how we think about the “strategic corporal.” The concept has long been viewed as a negative, coming out of incidents in Iraq and Afghanistan where mistakes by junior troops could have strategic political consequences. Soon, even the smallest Army unit will be able to deploy tactical or strategic military effects that might not merely reach the next hill but a hill hundreds or even thousands of miles away.  

Read the full article here.