In the spring of 2024, NATO released a promotional video laying out aspects of how the alliance is thinking about the role of AI in decisionmaking. According to the release, NATO conceptualizes AI as being fundamental for “precise and timely decision-making” and vital for contending with the complexity of modern war. These are understandable goals for the alliance, but NATO efforts to integrate AI cannot lose sight of ongoing practical roadblocks in favor of streamlined dreams of technical performance.
There are three roadblocks that should remain at the top of NATO officials’ minds related to AI and decisionmaking. First is the ongoing problem of system interoperability. While the importance of interoperability, or the ability for aspects of a system to successfully and efficiently communicate, is recognized in the NATO AI strategy, it remains an ongoing challenge. If AI is going to be used to support NATO decisionmaking, then ensuring relevant data can be successfully accessed and shared when and where it is needed will be fundamental, a fact highlighted by U.S. Army undersecretary Gabe Camarillo. Without such capabilities, decisions could be made on old or irrelevant data and coordination between allies could be inhibited, significantly limiting some of the perceived advantages of AI-enabled decision support systems. Part of the challenge will be resolving the relationships among data quality, model training, and downstream model performance. Moreover, while integrating AI can improve situational awareness, data sharing between partner systems will not be straightforward.
