US vice president JD Vance has declared that critical decisions of life and death must remain in human hands, not machines, identifying artificial intelligence’s potential to transform warfare as his primary concern.
Speaking at a US Air Force Academy graduation, he urged cadets to leverage technology for improvement but “never submit to it.”
Addressing the graduating class in Colorado, Vance, a Catholic, emphasized their unique role as decision-makers in conflict, advising them to be “jealous and selfish” of this responsibility.
His remarks echoed a recent Vatican document issued by the Pope, which called for a reduction in AI competition and robust legal frameworks to govern its development. The pontiff had previously voiced concerns that some autonomous weapons systems were advancing “practically beyond any human reach to govern them.”
The debate over AI’s military application extends beyond the US. Warnings have been raised in the UK Parliament regarding the regulation of advanced military technology, particularly with the increasing deployment of drones.
Domestically, the future use of AI and associated cybersecurity risks have also fueled tensions. Reports suggest a rift within the White House following President Donald Trump’s sudden decision to withdraw an executive order on emerging technology, reportedly due to industry concerns. Public apprehension is also evident, as seen when Google executive Eric Schmidt was recently booed by University of Arizona graduates, anxious about AI’s impact on future job security.
Highlighting the gravity of their future roles compared to most civilian graduates, Vance told the air force cadets: “Almost none of them will have your responsibility, quite literally, (for) decisions over life and death.”
He reiterated his central worry: “The thing I worry about most with AI is how it will change warfare.” Supporting the Pope’s stance, he encouraged people “not to outsource the most important moral decisions to digital technology.”
Vance elaborated on the ethical imperative: “AI will inevitably change warfare, and of course, as you’ve learned over the last four years, it already has. But one of the things that makes Americans unique, that makes you as war fighters unique is that we wage war justly.
“But when I say that we, all of us, wage war justly, I mean fundamentally that you must do so, because you are the ones who execute, you are the ones who lead on the battlefield. You are the ones who ensure that our lethality in war, which is amazing and necessary, it also co-exists with our heart and with our conscience.”
Acknowledging the immense responsibility, he added: “It is an incredible burden to put on your shoulders, but it is one that we entrust to you with full confidence. And if the warfare of the future is to live up to the moral values of our ancestors, decisions over life and death must be made by humans and not machines.”
He concluded by urging the cadets: “So as AI transforms the battlefield … I ask that you be jealous and selfish about your role as a decision maker in warfare. Use technology to make you better, but never submit to it. You are the masters of warfare, and both your minds, but also your hearts, are the opposite of artificial.”
