Aspen Policy Academy

This article originally appeared on The Daily Upside on May 4, 2025.

By Nat Rubio-Licht

What does the battlefield of the future look like? 

The answer, influenced throughout history by advances in weapons technology from iron swords and gunpowder to fighter jets, is increasingly dependent on artificial intelligence tools that traditional defense contractors and Big Tech firms alike are vying to develop for the military. Though these firms stand to make billions of dollars, how best to regulate the known and unknown risks of AI in battlefield situations that threaten the lives of soldiers and civilians alike  remains undetermined.

“There can be real benefits if we do this right,” said Betsy Cooper, founding executive director of the Aspen Policy Academy. “We can make a lot of progress in shoring up our defenses and in understanding what our adversaries are doing. It just means we need to walk before we run.”