How Artificial Intelligence Could Reshape Four Essential Competitions in Future Warfare

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This report offers a conceptual framework and preliminary assessment of how artificial intelligence could reshape military warfare by focusing on four fundamental competitions: quantity versus quality, hiding versus finding, centralized versus decentralized command and control, and cyber offense versus cyber defense. The findings suggest that the U.S. military might need to change important aspects of how it traditionally operates to exploit AI’s potential.

Year published: 2026

URL: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA4316-1.html