When war moves at machine speed, politics must not fall behind |
The question raised by artificial intelligence in warfare is not only whether machines can fight faster than humans. It is whether political leaders can still think slowly enough to control them.
That question is becoming harder to avoid. AI is already being integrated into military planning, intelligence analysis, image recognition, targeting support, logistics, cyber defense and unmanned systems. NATO’s revised artificial intelligence strategy, released in July 2024, explicitly refers to generative AI, responsible use, interoperability among allies and the dangers of AI-enabled disinformation and information operations.
The conflict in Ukraine has made these issues more concrete. Drones, electronic warfare, satellite imagery, battlefield software and rapid technological adaptation have become part of the daily reality of war. The Center for Strategic and International Studies has described Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as having accelerated the integration of emerging technologies, particularly unmanned systems, into military operations.
Yet the lesson should not be reduced to a simple slogan: drones are replacing tanks, AI is replacing soldiers or the next war will be won by algorithms. That kind of technological determinism is tempting, but misleading.
The deeper issue is political. As military systems become faster, more autonomous and more dependent on data, can governments still ensure that war remains under political control?
Here, a 19th-century thinker remains surprisingly relevant. Carl von Clausewitz is often remembered for the phrase that war is the continuation of politics by other means. The point is not that war is rational or easily controlled. On the contrary, Clausewitz understood war as a violent, uncertain and emotionally charged human activity, shaped by fear, chance, confusion, national passion and political purpose.
That is precisely why his insight matters in the age of AI.
AI may change the instruments of war, but it does not abolish war’s political nature. No algorithm can decide what a nation’s war aims should be. No targeting........