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The future of warfare is being shaped by computer algorithms that are assuming ever greater control over battlefield technology.\xa0 Will this give machines the power to decide who to kill?
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\nThe United States is in a race to harness gargantuan leaps in artificial intelligence to develop new weapons systems for a new kind of warfare. Pentagon leaders call it \u201calgorithmic warfare.\u201d But the push to integrate AI into battlefield technology raises a big question: How far should we go in handing control of lethal weapons to machines?

We team up with The Center for Public Integrity and national security reporter Zachary Fryer-Biggs to examine how AI is transforming warfare and our own moral code.\xa0

In our first story, Fryer-Biggs and Reveal\u2019s Michael Montgomery head to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Sophomore cadets are exploring the ethics of autonomous weapons through a lab simulation that uses miniature tanks programmed to destroy their targets.

Next, Fryer-Biggs and Montgomery talk to a top general leading the Pentagon\u2019s AI initiative. They also explore the legendary hackers conference known as DEF CON and hear from technologists campaigning for a global ban on autonomous weapons.

Machines are getting smarter, faster,\xa0and better at figuring out who\xa0to kill in battle. But\xa0should\xa0we let them?