Project Maven: A Book Review

The publication of Katrin Manson’s book Project Maven: A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare came a month after the launch of Operation Epic Fury. The operation targeted thousands of Iranian military and strategic assets. And made some tragic errors. The identification and targeting of these sites were provided, in most cases, using artificial intelligence. Manson’s thoroughly documented book recounts how that came to be.

Under the leadership of Marine Colonel Drew Cukor, an effort was initiated within the Pentagon in 2017 to use AI not only for battlefield surveillance but to target people and resources. Manson also recounts the evolution of this project to the ultimate goal—removing humans from the decision-making process.

Project Maven is a military artificial intelligence platform developed by Palantir. Originally launched in 2017 to analyze drone and surveillance imagery, the program has expanded into the Maven Smart System, which processes data from satellites, radar, and sensors to identify threats in real time. The Pentagon is currently seeking $2.3 billion over five years to further expand the platform. The American war machine wants “omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence.” This can only be achieved using AI.

Manson addresses the evolution of military use of artificial intelligence, its present and possible future uses in warfare, the machinations in the Pentagon and private corporations to receive funding, and the ethical impact of the technology. Here I will address only the last item.

The author argues that the quest to develop the system goes beyond battlefield effectiveness. Manson observes, “Whatever worse terrors wars visit on civilians and enemies, I cannot shake what it does to the people sent to fight. Could AI alleviate the burden and suffering of war [on combatants}?”

Manson covers a lot of territory in the pros and cons of human decision-making, but the key ideas emerge.

The development of AI raises ethical and moral questions about taking human choice out of the system. Think Terminator and Skynet!
If we take the human element out of the system, does this encourage ferocity in engagement and discourage mercy?
Who gets to decide who takes a human life and who bears the cost?
Does mitigating “moral injury” to military personnel justify the use of AI decision-making?

The challenge may best be summarized in a quote by Albert Einstein cited by the author: “Einstein, who argued that a ‘disastrous by-product ‘of science and technology was the mechanization and depersonalization of our lives that led to ‘abominable deterioration of ethical standards.’”

Manson has immersed herself in this topic, allowing her to present not only the development of AI for military use but the possible implications for military strategy, combatants, enemies, and society. It would be easy to become focused on just one of these concerns. I suggest a quick read, not becoming bogged down in the technological aspects, but observing and attempting to understand the human implications.

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