Inside the Rise of AI-Driven Combat

War will never be the same

AI is changing the way we fight wars. Not just in a hypothetical future, but right now. So let’s take a look at what a battlefield looks like when one side is using AI and the other side isn’t.

Special thanks to The Economist Team:
- Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor
- Liv Moloney, Head of Video
- Lee Mears, Art Director
- Anna Bucks, Executive Producer

Make sure to check out these articles from The Economist on AI Warfare:

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-- VIDEO CHAPTERS --
0:00 Intro
0:51 The Battlefield
4:31 The Kill Chain
10:37 The Real World
13:58 The Ethics
16:07 Conclusion

AI Disclosure: Occasionally, we use AI to create some of the imagery in our videos, which our (very talented) animators then spend weeks developing into what you see in the final video. When AI is used to generate any imagery that may appear onscreen, we'll add this to the video description. We're learning as we go about AI usage and transparency, and appreciate your thoughts.

About:
Johnny Harris is an Emmy-winning independent journalist and contributor to the New York Times. Based in Washington, DC, Harris reports on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe, publishing to his audience of over 5 million on Youtube. Harris produced and hosted the twice Emmy-nominated series Borders for Vox Media. His visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways.

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[CraftyFX]

You can trust humanity to put its best inventions at work to maximise misery.

[f.b.]

The worst thing about AI war is that its much easier to kill, when you are not the one bashing the skulls of enemies.

[aleksisvargers]

Next up- AI creates AI to defeat other AIs using humans. Darwin's Loop completed!

[paytowin]

They should name their software: 'Skynet'

Nice, short, and iconic

[Talador]

Geopolitics AND technology will force this forward. The technology will never stop, ever.

[simz]

Hey Johnny, so im from Eswatini formally known as Swaziland. It is a small country in southern Africa between south africa and mozambique. It is the last absolute monarch in Africa and i think a video on how the King has managed to stay in power for over 50 years even with the recent unrest that took place.

[The-Brand-Files]

The way you have your guest, whos videocalling in, set up a B and a C camera is so extra and a great way to up the polish on your videos.

Honestly, if you just used the screen recording of the conversation noone would complain. Its the standard we're all used to.

But you took it to another level.

Bravo to the production team.

[bearlogg]

Putin: Control AI and you'll control the world
Also Putin: WW1 trench warfare

[jonathanathe]

I just discovered your channel thanks to your videos being dubbed in Spanish, and I love it. I hope that future videos, as well as previously published ones, will also be dubbed so I can keep watching them. You’ve got a new subscriber here!

[davidmorenus]

Most of this is not AI, but replacing manual processes with software and databases. One of the hypothetical armies is using manual processes like it's 1975, and one is using modern battle management software, like the US and its allies have been developing for the past 40 years. This is the 21st century; let me give you an acronym that originated in the previous century: C4ISR. That's Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance -- which is what this video is talking about, automating that whole process. Due to those decades of work, all the sensor data goes into databases, where it is analyzed by other software and people, and displayed to commanders, who make decisions that go back into the system. Everyone in the modern army can see what the enemy is doing, and what their fellow units are doing. These C4ISR systems have a lot of places where AI can dip in and detect things, prioritize, optimize, organize, and highlight things, so the army can make better decisions faster. But AI just adds another layer to the cake that we already have.

[FunderDuck]

Aside from military contractors, no one wins an arms race.

[Im_MrYaba]

It never ceases to amaze me just how much effort humans put into finding new and improved ways to kill each other. Effort that could be better directed toward improving our species. I know some of you will call me naive. IDC!

[Della.Chambers]

'At what point do advances in warfare guarantee our self destruction? Feels increasingly like we should be looking to use AI to prevent wars instead of fighting them....

[GTSA-eoes]

not gonna lie... when you started talking about how the AI can start to fly the drones by itself, it reminded me of the 86 light novel series.
Let's hope we don't go down that route.

[G.]

Just remember, lewis hamilton beat a super computer's estimated best possible time in am f1 race

[sagestubbs]

6:37 IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MAPS. "Maps are power" -Johnny, probably

[PureSinaatraa]

I’m in the USSF and they have sent out a mass email to everyone in the force about AI. They were pretty much recruiting people who know a lot about making AI, how they run, etc… They said you get to work with top ai professionals from MIT and such

[Daaannn-gk]

AI stocks are poised to dominate in 2025. I prefer NVIDIA because they are well-positioned to sustain long-term growth and serve as a foundational platform for other AI companies. I know an investor who has achieved over 200% returns with NVIDIA. I'm also open to any additional recommendations you may have.

[zikoraagbapu]

1:36 wow so he’s an “expert” at military defense who thinks a bomb goes BANG? Everyone knows a bomb goes BOOM.

[AnthonyMcGowan]

power outages, hackers, software errors, enemy penetration of your systems, there are so many ways that computerised systems can go wrong. a clever opponent will not show their capabilities to compromise your systems until it is a suitable moment that gives them a huge advantage. while the it engineers are figuring it out they take the initiative.