On ChatBots, Machine Learning, the Future of War, and Dogs Versus Ants

Ben Zweibelson, PhD
9 min readMar 25, 2023
Image source: https://singularityrpg.fandom.com/wiki/Sonny?file=320_3_large.jpg

I have two articles coming out in April-May over at the U.S. Marine Corps’ Journal of Advanced Military Studies (JAMS) on AI, human-machine teaming, and how these developments may entirely transform what we understand war is, aside from disrupting most all current conventions on what warfare unfolds as in complex conflicts. I will not go into details here that those extensive articles address, and if you subscribe to follow me on Medium and get email updates, you will get first notification when those two articles hit the press. JAMS does a digital and a print version, and best of all, JAMS has no PAYWALL.

Those two articles are titled “The Singleton Paradox: On the Future of Human-Machine Teaming and Potential Disruption of War Itself” and “Whale Songs of Wars Not Yet Waged: The Demise of Natural Born Killers on Future Battlefields”. These articles explain key differences in narrow and general AI, and how potential AI “arms races” may occur that exceed the dangers associated with the nuclear arms race. Further, we fragile, slow humans may be replaced entirely from future battlefields faster than our military organizations are willing to admit. Remember, the US Army argued as late as 1938 that horse cavalry forces must remain central to the next war (World War II) and, in 1930, a young Major Patton (“Old Blood and Guts”)…

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Ben Zweibelson, PhD
Ben Zweibelson, PhD

Written by Ben Zweibelson, PhD

Philosopher of Conflict; works at U.S. Space Command; All opinions my own!