JD Vance calls for human control over AI-powered warfare
Washington, May 29 : US Vice President JD Vance warned that while artificial intelligence will transform warfare, decisions involving life and death must remain in human hands, telling graduating officers at the US Air Force Academy that America must never surrender moral judgment to machines.
Addressing the Class of 2026 in Colorado Springs, Vance said rapid advances in artificial intelligence, cyber operations and autonomous systems were reshaping the battlefield and creating new challenges for military leaders.
"The thing I worry about most with AI is how it will change warfare," Vance said.
Referring to recent comments by Pope Leo XIV, the Vice President said the challenge was not simply technological but moral.
"Pope Leo the 14th in a recent document, encouraged us as human beings not to outsource the most important moral decisions to digital technology," he said.
Vance told the graduating cadets that AI would inevitably become a larger part of military operations but cautioned that technology should support rather than replace human judgment.
"If the warfare of the future is to live up to the moral values of our ancestors, decisions over life and death must be made by humans and not machines," he said.
He urged the future officers to remain "jealous and selfish" about their responsibilities as military leaders.
"Use technology to make you better, but never submit to it," Vance said. "You are the masters of warfare and both your minds, but also your hearts are the opposite of artificial."
Vance stressed that the new officers would enter service during a period of growing geopolitical uncertainty and rapidly evolving military technologies.
"You are graduating into one of those eras where that reality, that unpredictability of warfare, is becoming impossible to ignore," he said.
The Vice President said future officers would serve in an environment shaped by "autonomous systems, AI and cyber operations" and warned that adversaries were closely watching the United States.
"Our adversaries are studying this country every day. They're studying our military doctrine. They're studying our industrial capacity. They're setting our political divisions, our attention span, and new graduates they are studying you," he said.
Vance praised American airmen and guardians involved in ongoing military operations and argued that U.S. military power continued to redefine what was possible on the battlefield.
"When the President needs options, it's our Air Force and our Space Force who provide them, redefining what is possible mission after mission through sheer human daring," he said.
Vance said the administration was investing heavily in military modernisation through programmes such as the F-47 fighter aircraft and the Golden Dome missile defence initiative while supporting higher defence spending and improvements to military quality of life.
The speech comes as militaries around the world are rapidly integrating artificial intelligence into intelligence gathering, surveillance, targeting and battlefield decision-support systems.
Addressing the Class of 2026 in Colorado Springs, Vance said rapid advances in artificial intelligence, cyber operations and autonomous systems were reshaping the battlefield and creating new challenges for military leaders.
"The thing I worry about most with AI is how it will change warfare," Vance said.
Referring to recent comments by Pope Leo XIV, the Vice President said the challenge was not simply technological but moral.
"Pope Leo the 14th in a recent document, encouraged us as human beings not to outsource the most important moral decisions to digital technology," he said.
Vance told the graduating cadets that AI would inevitably become a larger part of military operations but cautioned that technology should support rather than replace human judgment.
"If the warfare of the future is to live up to the moral values of our ancestors, decisions over life and death must be made by humans and not machines," he said.
He urged the future officers to remain "jealous and selfish" about their responsibilities as military leaders.
"Use technology to make you better, but never submit to it," Vance said. "You are the masters of warfare and both your minds, but also your hearts are the opposite of artificial."
Vance stressed that the new officers would enter service during a period of growing geopolitical uncertainty and rapidly evolving military technologies.
"You are graduating into one of those eras where that reality, that unpredictability of warfare, is becoming impossible to ignore," he said.
The Vice President said future officers would serve in an environment shaped by "autonomous systems, AI and cyber operations" and warned that adversaries were closely watching the United States.
"Our adversaries are studying this country every day. They're studying our military doctrine. They're studying our industrial capacity. They're setting our political divisions, our attention span, and new graduates they are studying you," he said.
Vance praised American airmen and guardians involved in ongoing military operations and argued that U.S. military power continued to redefine what was possible on the battlefield.
"When the President needs options, it's our Air Force and our Space Force who provide them, redefining what is possible mission after mission through sheer human daring," he said.
Vance said the administration was investing heavily in military modernisation through programmes such as the F-47 fighter aircraft and the Golden Dome missile defence initiative while supporting higher defence spending and improvements to military quality of life.
The speech comes as militaries around the world are rapidly integrating artificial intelligence into intelligence gathering, surveillance, targeting and battlefield decision-support systems.
