AI, Automation, and War: The Rise of a Military-Tech Complex

Volume 6|Issue 11| Oct 2025 |Book Reviews

Abstract

​​​The book revolves around a central thesis: artificial intelligence will not replace the human mind in strategic leadership but will instead be used to process data on an unprecedented scale and speed to enhance military and intelligence understanding. From this perspective, the book explores how armies employ smart technologies to improve planning, cyber operations, and target identification with greater speed and efficiency. More importantly, it argues that investing in AI within the military field requires a radical organizational transformation in modern armies. It notes that armed forces have begun integrating civilian technologists into command and operations centers to work alongside military officers, leading to an institutional partnership between the military establishment and the technology sector, a new “military-tech complex” whose influence in the 21st century rivals that of the military-industrial complex of the 20th century.
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Muhanad Seloom (Corresponding Author)

​Assistant professor of critical security studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.​

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