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Hey, electric cars? It's obvious that they've come into their own now that Tesla's Elon Musk has once again been granted his (no, this is not a misprint!) $44.9 billion pay package by that company's shareholders after a Delaware judge all too unreasonably tossed it out last year. Admittedly, given court issues, he won't get it immediately, but he's still promised to continue helping make Tesla's vehicles fully artificially intelligent and "self-driving." And what could possibly go wrong, once AI is at the wheel instead of us humans?
I still recall my dad teaching me to drive in New York City. I can remember being at a corner downtown with cars zipping by in either direction and my dad yelling, "Turn left! Turn left!" In that moment of ultimate pressure, I simply couldn't remember which direction left was. Had I then been artificially intelligent, there would have been no problem. Now, it seems, with future AI and billions of dollars more in the hands of Musk and his like, grammar school kids or even toddlers may someday be able to "drive" their artificially intelligent family cars. (Something to look forward to, right?)
And the same, it seems, may be true when it comes to making war. Thanks in large part to the new-age militarists of Silicon Valley that TomDispatch regular and Pentagon expert William Hartung describes so vividly today, sooner or later, this country's generals and admirals, fighting soldiers, sailors, and pilots will assumedly be replaced at the wheel of war by artificial intelligence. And what could possibly go wrong? I mean, isn't war, like driving a car, potentially a matter of child's play? And won't AI ensure that war-making never again falters -- no more Vietnams, Afghanistans, or Iraqs, thanks to us increasingly (in)human beings.
On the other hand, I can imagine a few problems (as can Hartung). I mean, when you think about it, what has war ever had to do with intelligence? Tom
Philosopher Kings or New-Age Militarists?
Silicon Valley and the Rush Toward Automated Warfare
Venture capital and military startup firms in Silicon Valley have begun aggressively selling a version of automated warfare that will deeply incorporate artificial intelligence (AI). Those companies and their CEOs are now pressing full speed ahead with that emerging technology, largely dismissing the risk of malfunctions that could lead to the future slaughter of civilians, not to speak of the possibility of dangerous scenarios of escalation between major military powers. The reasons for this headlong rush include a misplaced faith in "miracle weapons," but above all else, this surge of support for emerging military technologies is driven by the ultimate rationale of the military-industrial complex: vast sums of money to be made.
The New Techno-Enthusiasts
While some in the military and the Pentagon are indeed concerned about the future risk of AI weaponry, the leadership of the Defense Department is on board fully. Its energetic commitment to emerging technology was first broadcast to the world in an August 2023 speech delivered by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks to the National Defense Industrial Association, the largest arms industry trade group in the country. She used the occasion to announce what she termed "the Replicator Initiative," an umbrella effort to help create "a new state of the art -- just as America has before -- leveraging attritable, autonomous systems in all domains -- which are less expensive, put fewer people in the line of fire, and can be changed, updated, or improved with substantially shorter lead times."
Hicks was anything but shy about pointing to the primary rationale for such a rush toward robotic warfare: outpacing and intimidating China. "We must," she said, "ensure the PRC [People's Republic of China] leadership wakes up every day, considers the risks of aggression, and concludes, 'today is not the day' -- and not just today, but every day, between now and 2027, now and 2035, now and 2049, and beyond."
Hick's supreme confidence in the ability of the Pentagon and American arms makers to wage future techno-wars has been reinforced by a group of new-age militarists in Silicon Valley and beyond, spearheaded by corporate leaders like Peter Thiel of Palantir, Palmer Luckey of Anduril, and venture capitalists like Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz.
Patriots or Profiteers?
These corporate promoters of a new way of war also view themselves as a new breed of patriots, ready and able to successfully confront the military challenges of the future.
A case in point is "Rebooting the Arsenal of Democracy," a lengthy manifesto on Anduril's blog. It touts the superiority of Silicon Valley startups over old-school military-industrial behemoths like Lockheed Martin in supplying the technology needed to win the wars of the future:
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