Lindsay Co-authors Article on AI, Warfare

Posted May 3, 2022

Jon R. Lindsay, associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and School of Cybersecurity and Privacy, recently co-authored an article in The National Interest titled “Artificial Intelligence and the Human Context of War.”

In it, Lindsay and co-author Avi Goldfarb of the University of Toronto argue that artificial intelligence will not replace humans when it comes to warfare, as some believe it will. Instead, they suggest that humans will need to be involved for the “data, judgment, and action” aspects of decision making, even if AI takes over prediction.

“An AI may be able to predict whether rain is likely by drawing on data about previous weather, but a human must decide whether the risk of getting wet merits the hassle of carrying an umbrella,” they explain.

They also argue that AI is more likely to succeed in a commercial setting than a military one. They use the Russian invasion of Ukraine to show that human-developed strategies are still the most accurate measure of success when it comes to warfare, not AI capabilities.

“The questions that matter most about the causes, conduct, and conclusion of the war in Ukraine (or any war) are not really about prediction at all,” they write. “Questions about the strategic aims, political resolve, and risk tolerances of leaders like Vladimir Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Joseph Biden turn on judgments of values, goals, and priorities. Only humans can provide the answers.”

Read the full article in The National Interest.

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Credit: jonrlindsay.com

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