The Impact of AI on Defence

Artificial Intelligence is redefining the nature of warfare, offering both strategic advantages and significant risks. As systems become more advanced, autonomous, and embedded within defence capabilities, militaries face hard choices: how to harness AI without creating vulnerabilities, and how to integrate it into force structures while managing the risks of escalation and misuse.

The Critical Questions of Interest

  • How can we utilise AI to our advantage without ceding control or creating new vulnerabilities?
  • Where should AI support command decisions, and where must human judgment remain absolute?
  • Who holds authority and liability when multinational forces deploy AI in joint operations?
  • How do we build trust in autonomous systems across services, allies, and coalitions?
  • What happens if adversaries adopt AI faster, or with fewer safeguards, than we are ready for?
  • How do we defend against AI-driven cyber, information, and deception operations?
  • Can defence institutions adapt quickly enough to encompass the necessary skills, doctrine, and interoperability for an AI-enabled battlespace?

Uncovering Insights

Our AI Impact wargames immerse military leaders and policymakers in plausible near-future scenarios where AI shapes operations, escalation dynamics, and alliance coordination. Participants confront dilemmas where technology, ethics, and security collide, forced to make decisions under pressure and uncertainty.

In the game, teams grapple with:

  • Balancing autonomy with human oversight in time-critical decisions.
  • Managing Escalation Risks When AI Systems Interact at Machine Speed.
  • Responding to adversaries who weaponise AI in cyber, information, or hybrid warfare.
  • Coordinating across services, allies, and agencies to maintain coherence under pressure.

The Impact

AI is altering the battlespace whether we are ready or not. These wargames offer military leaders the opportunity to rehearse critical decisions before they are implemented, stress-test their strategies, identify blind spots, and enhance coordination across services and alliances.

The result is foresight that becomes preparedness: defence institutions able to harness AI’s advantages while safeguarding against its risks.

On tomorrow’s battlefield, foresight is as vital as firepower; rehearse your AI decisions today.