U.S. Army War College faculty Blair Wilcox and Chase Metcalf sit down with host Tom Spahr to discuss the role of AI in military planning and command. Drawing from numerous iterations of wargames, they examine whether machines can ever truly replace human intuition. Their core takeaway is that while AI excels at the science of control—processing data and accelerating workflows—it cannot master the art of command. War remains a human endeavor and there is a significant risk in letting machines rush humans into fast decisions that may be tactically efficient yet strategically disastrous. Leaders must stay engaged to provide the ethical judgment, empathy, and inspiration that no software can replicate.
AI may assist with the science of control, but it cannot assume the art of command.
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Chase Metcalf is a colonel, an Army strategist and an instructor at the U.S. Army War College. He most recently served as Deputy Director of the Russia Strategic Initiative at the United States’ European Command. He was a U.S. Army War College Fellow with Yale University in 2019-2020. He is an instructor in the USAWC Joint Warfighting Program.
Blair Wilcox is a lieutenant colonel and a U.S. Army Strategist (FA59) currently assigned as the Deputy Director in the Strategic Landpower and Futures Group in the Center for Strategic Leadership at the U.S. Army War College. Before his current assignment, he taught in the Department of Social Sciences at the U.S. Military Academy from 2016-2020. His first functional assignment as a Strategist was at V Corps where he was the lead author for the Corps Subordinate Campaign Plan and Operational Approach. Blair helped stand up the Corps, deployed with the Corps during crisis, and served as the Chief of Plans during his final year in the G5.
Thomas W. Spahr is the DeSerio Chair of Strategic and Theater Intelligence at the U.S. Army War College. He is a retired colonel in the U.S. Army and holds a Ph.D. in History from The Ohio State University. He teaches courses at the Army War College on Military Campaigning and Intelligence.
The views expressed in this presentation are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Army War College, U.S. Army, or Department of War.
Photo Credit: Created by Gemini
