Category: Science and Technology

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Shortly after midnight Moscow time on the 27th of September 1983, Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov saved the world. This incident, unknown outside of the Soviet air defense forces until 1998, is a highly relevant case study as we accelerate the pace of automation and artificial intelligence in complex military systems. Cold War backdrop Cold War tensions between the US/NATO and USSR/Warsaw Pact were higher than they’d been since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Both sides had intermediate-range nuclear missiles on alert, treaty negotiations were breaking down, and NATO was preparing to deploy upgraded Pershing II and additional Ground Launched Cruise Missile systems …

Artificial Intelligence and Human Judgement: A Cold War Cautionary Tale Read more »

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I am a fan of solving problems with market-inspired solutions; markets efficiently allocate resources and drive innovation through decentralized decision-making. Earlier this year, I wrote about how modular, open systems architectures (MOSAs) could enable a competitive solution marketplace, allowing warfighters to pick the best solution for their mission and generating competition among solution providers. Less than two months later, we learned that Ukraine is actually doing it. Soldiers in drone units earn points based on confirmed kills, which they can exchange for new gear in the Brave1 Market. The scheme benefits the war effort by bypassing bureaucratic acquisition processes and …

Gamified warfare: Ukraine’s arms marketplace experiment Read more »