**9. The risks inherent in the use of new technologies for military decision-making**

#### **9.1 Tunnel effect**

Easy access to information or possible information overload both favour a possible tunnel effect. This effect, due to a sudden rise in adrenaline, causes a failure in the analysis of signals and data received by a brain that is no longer able to step back and analyse the situation. For the military, this tunnel effect is clearly the enemy of the soldier who has to concentrate on a screen, on a precise task, forgetting to look at the enemy threat around him and thus exposing himself seriously. It is also the enemy of the leader who, because he focuses on a piece of information that he finds crucial, becomes unable to step back and fulfil his role as a leader, which is to take into account the globality of the military action, and not one of its particular aspects highlighted by this information. Too much information should not prevent the commander from stepping back and reflecting.

The question of the gender of the soldier operator may be an avenue of exploration here, as women may have the capacity to manage several tasks simultaneously better than men.

#### **9.2 Inhibit the action**

Easy access to information encourages another possible flaw in decision-making. That of not deciding anything until one has all the information at his disposal. This flaw can probably become a major concern in the future. With the responsibility of the soldier at stake, he may hesitate until the last moment to take a decision because he lacks information that he can hope to recover by technological means. This is the death of daring, of manoeuvre by surprise, which often ensures a victory for the leaders who dare to practice them.

#### **9.3 AI will influence the decision of the leader**

Stress is an inherent component of taking responsibility. It is common for a military leader to have the feeling of being overwhelmed in a complex (military) situation. In such contexts, the leader will most often be inclined to trust an artificial intelligence because it will appear to him, provided he has confidence in it, as a serious decision-making aid not influenced by any stress, having superior processing capabilities, and able to test multiple combinations for a particular effect.

#### **9.4 Too much predictability in operational decision-making patterns**

The modelling of human intelligence by duly validated but very fixed algorithmic processes can lead to the inhibition of human intelligence. In particular, there will be a risk that military thinking will be locked into decision-triggering software. In other words, the formatting of military thought into controlled and controllable decision-making processes, developed by the need to respect the rules of engagement and international rules, particularly those of the decision to open fire. The processes will certainly be validated, but once activated, these processes may become completely rigid technological gems, admirably designed, but incorporating doctrinal biases that cannot be challenged in the face of unpredictable enemy behaviour [7]. By the time, these systems and their uses are adapted, it will be too late and the battle will be lost.

Another major risk is the predictability of the behaviour of these systems by the enemy. As these systems are known, their vulnerability will also be known. It will therefore be easy for the enemy to circumvent them by manoeuvres combining cunning and opportunity, with victory only reflecting the inability of these highly technical systems to adapt to an unpredictable or simply illegal conflict.

The leader must therefore anticipate these pitfalls and use the means at his disposal with intelligence. On these aspects, the French army has developed the concept of "major effect" to be achieved. This major effect conceptualises the way in which the leader intends to seize the initiative in the execution of his mission and which makes it possible to adapt the means and methods of execution to the final effect sought [8].

#### **9.5 A principle of subsidiarity undermined**

As a corollary to the extraordinary potential of the digitisation of the battlefield, namely to allow all levels of the hierarchy to access information in real time and simultaneously, there is also a new risk at every level of the military hierarchy: that of the leader having the possibility of directly accessing 'target information', thus breaking the principle of subsidiarity, which requires him to delegate to his subordinates the responsibility for and the use of the means made available to him. The temptation to interfere in the decisions of subordinates and to decide in their place will be great, given his experience and his position. In order to avoid this possible risk, it will be necessary to define precisely the right level of information to be communicated for the right strategic level, in order to respect the freedom of action of each level and to avoid a general and systematic dissemination of information without intermediate processing and filtering.

#### **10. Conclusion**

"The philosophy of war does not change. It will not change as long as it is men who make war" said General Charles de Gaulle.

In spite of everything, new technologies bring new equipment to the forces in operation. They are transforming the art of waging war through the opportunities they offer and by the new uses they bring to the battlefield.

With these new means at his disposal, the leader must continue to ensure the delicate balance between reflection and action. Without real and concrete *New Technologies and Decision-Making for the Military DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98849*

commitment, there can be no good understanding of the situation, and without hindsight, there can be no good decisions [9].

This balance can only be achieved through advanced training. Firstly, human learning, to know how to command his men and respect the opponent. Secondly, intellectual learning, because he must understand the technologies he will use on the battlefield. Military training, because war is an art that leaves no room for the unexpected and requires skills and qualities that are acquired through effort, courage and performance training.

It is this leader of tomorrow that the French Military Academy of Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan is training in Brittany, in the western part of France.

### **Glossary**

