War at Machine-Speed

Episode 49 - Targeting at Machine Speed This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J speak with Major Michael Brodka, a U.S. Army military intelligence officer and author of the July 2026 Military Review article “By Algorithm or Order.” Major Brodka argues that the U.S. Army's human-paced targeting doctrine is dangerously misaligned with the rapid emergence of machine-speed, AI-enabled warfare being pursued by adversaries like China and Russia. It asserts that to close this critical "velocity gap," the military must reform its doctrines, organizations, and training to integrate lethal autonomous weapon systems under lawful human-on-the-loop control. Show Notes: “By Algorithm or Order” Michael Brodka DoD Directive 3000.09: Autonomy in Weapon Systems Department of Defense Law of War Manual Field Manual (FM) 3-60:Army Targeting 2023 DoD Data, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence Adoption Strategy Michael A. Santoro, “Designing Lethal Decisions: AI, Accountability, and the Future of Military Judgment,” Modern War Institute (16 Apr 2026) Jesse R. Crifasi, “Targeting at Machine Speed: The Capabilities—and Limits—of Artificial Intelligence,” Modern War Institute (17 Jul 2025) As always, listeners can contact us at [email protected] with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics. Credits: Hosted by James Hughes and Nir Eisikovits Music & Production by Jake Burley