Abstract
The growing fascination with so-called emerging and disruptive technologies (EDTs) such as artifical intelligence (AI) is already transforming military affairs in profound ways, even if these technologies are not yet properly integrated into military practices and organizations. To make sense of this, this brief article surveys the multiple and sometimes conflicting sociotechnical imaginaries tied to military EDTs and discusses their broader political implications. Concretely, it interrogates two perspectives on how war and military affairs are currently being (re)imagined in light of recent technological developments. These are: 1) the emergence of new forms of agency in the interplay between combatants and AI and 2) new forms of political authority that emerge from the growing influence of technology corporations in war and military affairs. Together, these examples illustrate the ‘messy’ and emergent dimensions of military technopolitics, whereby multiple and sometimes conflicting sociotechnical imaginaries are enrolled into and continusly (re)shape war and military affairs.