Autonomy and the Future of Australian Air Power: Artificial Intelligence, Decision Making, and the Human Operator

In modern conflict, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) requires a decisive edge and the on-boarding of new capabilities will unmistakably sharpen the RAAF’s ability to deliver precise effects. Foremost among those capabilities is artificial intelligence (AI) and its contribution to air power autonomy. Here, I explore three categories to illustrate how autonomous systems could be used: (1) command autonomy; (2) functional autonomy; and (3) where a human operator sits in the control loop. These categories are assessed using hypothetical scenarios to assess the integration of AI and autonomous decision-making with a human operator. A case is made that despite the availability of new capabilities, their integration with a human operator will remain critical to provide decisive edge in the future. A careful assessment of autonomous processes reinforce the delegation of a human in the loop as the ultimate decision-maker, in line with doctrine.