AI in the Age of Great Power Competition: US Defense Strategy and the Replicator Initiative

Description

Abstract: Since the last years of Barack Obama’s presidency, the principal focus of American defense policy has shifted from the Global War on Terror toward great power competition with the People’s Republic of China. This talk examines how this process has impacted the Department of Defense’s (DoD) development of military applications of AI. It does so in three stages. The first section introduces the DoD’s definition of AI and some of the different military applications of these technologies. The second section explains the focus of the ongoing Replicator Initiative and its relationship to the Pentagon’s concerns about the People’s Liberation Army military efforts. The third and final section reflects on what the Replicator Initiative can tell us about the role of technology in both today's era of great power competition and the American way of war. This talk will consequently be of interest to anyone wanting to know more about how US defence planners are responding to two of the most significant geopolitical challenges of the twenty-first century: rapid advances in AI associated technologies and the rise of China.

Period	2 Oct 2024
Held at	Lund University, Sweden