IN THE MILITARY.

Artificial intelligence and how to employ this game-changing, 21 st century technology is a predominant topic in national security circles.

It's not that it's new: military researchers have been looking at AI for decades. It's the fact that it's getting better all the time. Powerful, miniaturized computer chips, the cloud and high-speed 5G communications are converging to make science fiction, science fact.

The equation to remember is AI + 5G = ?

AI promises to change not only the ways militaries conduct operations, but societies as a whole.

Early applications are relatively mundane--for example, how to make military vehicle maintenance more efficient using AI in performance-based logistics. It doesn't sound exciting, but it could save taxpayers billions of dollars.

Meanwhile, the robotic weapons of Hollywood movies are upon us. Military robots are already employed at sea, on land and in the air, and not an issue of National Defense has gone by over the past decade without some mention of autonomous systems.

Currently, military leaders insist that humans--not robots--will be making the decisions on when "to pull the...