Evolving towards military innovation: AI and the Australian Army

Neads, Alex; Farrell, Theo; Galbreath, David J.

Abstract

Established theory views military innovation as extraordinarily difficult, resulting in painful if infrequent revolutionary transformations. This article presents a divergent view, in which military innovation occurs progressively in an evolutionary fashion. Drawing on New Institutionalism and the Sociology of Science and Technology, we explore processes of professional debate and consensus-building among military officers, which can lead to evolutionary innovation. Examining the future application of artificial intelligence to command-and-control in the Australian Army, we find that officer attitudes to automation are rooted in shared experience of existing digitisation programmes, creating an emergent consensus over the evolutionary trajectory of future military innovation.

Citation

Neads, A., Farrell, T., & Galbreath, D. J. (2024). Evolving towards military innovation: AI and the Australian Army. Journal of Strategic Studies, 47(5), 669-698. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2023.2200588

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 24, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Apr 24, 2023
• Publication Date: Jul 28, 2024
• Deposit Date: Apr 26, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 26, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Strategic Studies
• Print ISSN: 0140-2390
• Electronic ISSN: 1743-937X
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 47
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 669-698
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2023.2200588
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1175229