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Description

Artificial intelligence (AI) offers significant advantages for military decision-making, but its ability to identify effective strategies does not guarantee ethical or legal justification. Building on Dr. Peter Moskovitz’s distinction between strategy and conscience, Dr. James Giordano addresses the risks of overreliance on AI-generated recommendations and the need to preserve human judgment, authority, and accountability in military operations. He introduces Synthesized Command and Control (SYNTHComm), a proposed framework for integrating AI capabilities with human command, and offers five recommendations for the Department of War focused on command authority, system validation, operator training, and international norms. The article emphasizes that military AI must enhance operational effectiveness without compromising human responsibility or ethical and legal obligations.

Document Type

Article

Topic(s)

Emerging Science and Technologies, Ethics, Future Strategic Concepts

Publication Date

10-20-2026

Publisher

Institute for National Strategic Studies

City

Washington, DC

Keywords

Artificial Intelligence, Military AI, Military Decision-Making, Command and Control, Human-Machine Integration, Human Judgment, AI Ethics, Military AI Governance, Autonomous Systems, Human Accountability, National Security, SYNTHComm

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6505-4729

Strategy Is Not Conscience: The Moskovitz Perspective, Artificial Intelligence, and the Moral Imperatives of Military Command and Control

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