--- title: "Pentagon Official Boasts That AI Is Helping The Military Kill People Faster Than Ever Before" description: "The Pentagon is bullish on its recent AI advances that apparently help the military kill people faster than ever before." date: "2025-01-22" modified: "2025-01-22" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/pentagon-boasts-ai-kill-chain" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Military" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "ai" - "military tech" - "Pentagon" - "the digest" --- # Pentagon Official Boasts That AI Is Helping The Military Kill People Faster Than Ever Before ![The Pentagon is bullish on its recent AI advances that apparently help the military kill people faster than ever before.]() *The concept of increasing the military budget \Image: Anton Petrus / Getty Images\* ## Kill Chain Engage The Pentagon is bullish on recent AI advances, saying they're helping kill people faster than ever before. In an [interview with *TechCrunch*](), the Pentagon's chief digital and AI officer, Radha Plumb, admitted in a mask-off moment that the technology is helping to expedite the way the military kills. "We obviously are increasing the ways in which we can speed up the execution of kill chain," Plumb told the website in an interview, "so that our commanders can respond in the right time to protect our forces." According to a [Mitchell Institute white paper]() from 2023, "kill chain" is militaryspeak for "the process militaries use to attack targets in the battlespace." "The kill chain can be broken down into specific steps — find, fix, track, target, engage, and assess — that enable planners to build and task forces for combat operations," the paper explains. ## Military Precision In short, the Pentagon's top AI officer bragged off-handedly about using AI to expedite the process of ending lives. Though she didn't get into the specifics, Plumb did admit that AI is primarily used in the planning and strategizing phases of military kill chains. "Playing through different scenarios is something that generative AI can be helpful with," Plumb, who [previously worked at Facebook and Google](), told *TechCrunch*. "It allows you to take advantage of the full range of tools our commanders have available, but also think creatively about different response options and potential trade-offs in an environment where there’s a potential threat, or series of threats, that need to be prosecuted." That's a wild admission: the Pentagon is not only using AI to dream up scenarios that would require lethal force, but also boasting about it on the record. There are few more [dystopian usages of the technology](), and here one of the military's ranking officials is laying it out for the average reader. Plumb said the Pentagon doesn't buy or operate fully [autonomous weaponry](), meaning that for now there are still humans involved in any lethal decision-making. "As a matter of both reliability and ethics, we’ll always have humans involved in the decision to employ force," she insisted, "and that includes for our weapon systems." We're not sure about you, but that's not very reassuring — and with [AI lover Donald Trump]() back in the Oval Office, even that modicum of oversight could soon be under attack. **More on military AI:** [*OpenAI Strikes Deal With Military Contractor to Provide AI for Attack Drones*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()