Revolution in Military Affairs Anthony King on Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Systems, and the Future of War
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Dec 1, 2025 Anthony King, Director of the University of Exeter's Strategy and Security Institute, shares insights on the intersection of AI and warfare. He discusses the stark contrast between Silicon Valley's hype and the actual military applications of AI. King highlights the importance of human teams in AI operations, especially within special forces, and predicts how AI innovation will spread across military units. He also addresses barriers to AI adoption in the military, emphasizing that human agency remains irreplaceable in warfare.
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Rhetoric Distorts AI Reality
- Early AI rhetoric exaggerated both utopia and catastrophe, driven by interested Silicon Valley actors.
- That rhetoric confuses real military application and should be treated as a topic, not the baseline fact.
AI Requires More Human Teamwork
- AI adoption in militaries increases demands for human teamwork rather than replacing it.
- Effective AI application depends on hybrid teams of military and civilian tech specialists.
Task Force Dragon's Targeting Example
- Task Force Dragon used multi-source data and trained models to identify Russian headquarters for deep strikes.
- The effort produced battlefield effects that wouldn't have been possible two decades ago.
