Modern Battlegrounds: The AI Arms Race | Paul Scharre

Hold These Truths with Dan Crenshaw

Paul Scharre is an artificial intelligence expert who led the Department of Defense’s working group to establish policies on autonomous weapons systems. He joined Rep. Crenshaw to cover the latest (unclassified) capabilities of AI on the battlefield, the AI arms race with China, and the fine line between utopia and apocalypse which emerging AI tech has to offer us.

• Equipping Congress to deal with Artificial Intelligence

• How software has changed since the 1990s

• No rules: the machine is learning on its own

• Emergence of robots in the Iraq War

• The Pentagon’s policy on autonomous weapons

• Drones over Ukraine

• The 4 Battlegrounds of Artificial Intelligence

• The data race with China

• “Why did ChatGPT say that?”

• Chinese spies infiltrating American tech

• Integrating more AI into the U.S. military

• China’s 1984 Nightmare in Xinjiang Province

• “They literally call it SkyNet.”

• Scary hypotheticals for when AI “becomes human”

• “We’ve seen models engage in spontaneous deception.”

• AI cooperation agreements with China

• How do we regulate the next frontiers of AI?

• Could AI build a nuclear weapon?

Paul Scharre is the Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security. He is the author of "Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence" and "Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War."

Scharre previously worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) where he played a leading role in establishing policies on unmanned and autonomous systems and emerging weapons technologies. He led the Department of Defense (DoD) working group that drafted DoD Directive 3000.09, establishing the department’s policies on autonomy in weapon systems. He also led DoD efforts to establish policies on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance programs and directed energy technologies. Scharre was involved in the drafting of policy guidance in the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance, 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, and secretary-level planning guidance.

Prior to joining OSD, Scharre served as a special operations reconnaissance team leader in the Army’s 3rd Ranger Battalion and completed multiple tours to Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a graduate of the Army’s Airborne, Ranger, and Sniper Schools and Honor Graduate of the 75th Ranger Regiment’s Ranger Indoctrination Program.

Follow Paul on X at @paul_scharre.