The Augmented Soldier
What’s this about: In our last piece titled “AI and Warfare,” we discussed how AI was being implemented into the various operations of militaries worldwide, such as weapon development and military logistics. But there are even more examples of AI in the military, such as their use to create the augmented soldier.
Military AI development is enhancing the equipment and gear of soldiers, and with the rise of augmented reality (AR), soldiers are dramatically increasing their capabilities.
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An augmented soldier is a service member with enhanced physical, cognitive, and perceptual capacities. This leads to improved operational efficiency, and it is achieved in two main ways. The first is to supply the soldiers with special military AI equipment, which is already being practiced. The second one, however, has yet to be realized. It is the implanting of an invasive chip that could improve cerebral capacity. (Think of something along the lines of Elon Musk’s Neuralink.)
Let’s look at some of the ways AR is being used to create augmented soldiers.
Microsoft AR Headsets
In 2021, Microsoft won a U.S. Army contract worth up to $21.9 billion over ten years. The tech giant was tasked with developing and delivering over 120,000 augmented reality headsets…
