Abstract

This is an analysis of the interdependence of science/technology and the military--the central relationship of postmodern war. The commitment of the U.S. military to computing, especially artificial intelligence, is considered both in terms of the discourse of war, and through a detailed examination of U.S. military policy in this century. There is a special emphasis on strategic bombing, military futurology, and technoscience policy. It includes historical, textual and other analysis of the development of present policies, including case studies of: Air Force plans for a computer 'pilot's associate' to help fly and fight aircraft; The Navy's Aegis system in action, and The Strategic Defense Initiative's battle management project. ;These particular programs have been chosen because they cover the crucial aspects of the computer-military symbiosis at the levels of the soldier, the army, and the battleground. They also include applications with all the types of postmodern war and involve artificial intelligence research in almost all of the significant subfields of the discipline. ;This study is multidisciplinary by necessity. It's a social history of the U.S. military, and science, in the 20th century. It also draws heavily on military studies of technology, social studies of science, philosophical explorations of mind, language, and gender, and artificial intelligence research into languages and logics. It is grounded on the extensive use of original historical material obtained from public archives and directly from the U.S. military, as well as a number of interviews. ;This work will contribute to our understanding of how models of rationality, language, and representation, that have real and important effects in the world , are negotiated, constructed and dismantled. It reveals the roles technical and scientific innovations play in changing military policy and practice. At the least, it should help trace a part of the shifting relationship of scientific/technical developments and late-20th century war