Artificial Intelligence in Military Planning and Operations

This PRIO paper seeks to identify and address the ethical issues encountered through the expanding use of artificial intelligence (AI) in military planning. This exploration includes the concomitant expansion of operational capabilities that integrate an ever greater degree of AI, such as target-recognition systems, logistics and maintenance management, and autonomous aerial drones. The authors propose to describe each relevant phase of military operations—(i) critical data collection and intelligence gathering; (ii) command and control (C2); and (iii) weapon operations—and the uses and prospective uses of AI therein. This report describes some of the advantages as well as shortcomings of those AI systems and the issues, both technical and ethical, associated with their use. Ethical use of AI, we contend, confers military advantage through alliances, sustainable usage, and effective private-sector interaction. With audiences of military, political, and technology-sector leaders in mind, this report offers new perspectives on the importance of data and data ethics in strategy, current and future use cases, and ethical considerations of different military AI applications.