'Military Artificial Intelligence and National Security'

2025-04-10

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the landscape of national security and defence, reshaping how military operations are planned, executed, and evaluated. Military AI encompasses advanced capabilities, including autonomous weapons systems, predictive analytics for threat assessment, decision support systems, cybersecurity applications, and unmanned platforms. Despite the advantages offered by AI, significant challenges persist, including ethical considerations surrounding autonomous weaponry, vulnerabilities related to cyber-attacks, governance issues, data privacy concerns, and the inherent unpredictability of AI-driven decisions in complex conflict scenarios.

This special issue aims to foster a deeper scholarly understanding of the strategic, operational, and ethical dimensions of military AI. It seeks to bring together diverse academic perspectives that critically analyse the implications of AI integration within national security frameworks, highlighting current gaps, opportunities, and potential future developments.

This topic is significant as the increasing reliance on AI by military organisations worldwide makes this an urgent topic for scholarly exploration. AI's potential to alter strategic balances, redefine military doctrines, and introduce novel ethical and operational challenges demands rigorous, multidisciplinary analysis. Enhanced scholarly attention can guide policymakers, military strategists, and academics in navigating the complexities of AI integration effectively and responsibly.

Possible themes and areas of exploration include, but are not limited to:

  • Ethical and legal implications of autonomous military systems
  • AI-driven decision-making and command-and-control structures
  • Cybersecurity threats in AI-enabled defence systems
  • AI and military innovation: implications for doctrine and strategy
  • AI implications for the military education and training environment
  • Human-machine interaction in defence environments
  • AI’s role in defence, intelligence gathering, and predictive analytics
  • International governance and policy challenges surrounding military AI
  • Societal impacts and public perceptions of AI in national defence
  • Technical application of AI in military operations

Please submit an abstract of your paper by 30 April 2025. The notification of abstract acceptance is on 15 May 2025. The deadline for the completed manuscripts is 30 September 2025. Final manuscripts, including figure captions and references, should be no less than 7,000 words and not exceed 10,000 words. Manuscripts must include a structured abstract (maximum 250 words) and up to six keywords.

Full author guidelines, including referencing style and proforma layout, are available online (click here). The expected publication date is the first half of 2026.

This special issue will be edited by Prof Andries Engelbrecht, from the Department of Industrial Engineering, Stellenbosch University and Dr Piet Bester of the South African Military Academy, Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University.

Submissions, Questions and Comments: MILAIscientia@sun.ac.za

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