Across the U.S. armed forces, artificial intelligence is no longer confined to research labs or experimental projects. It is now reshaping how service members learn, train, and prepare for combat. Data-driven simulations are replacing rote repetition, and adaptive algorithms are becoming part of the training environment. For the Department of Defense, this shift represents a fundamental change in what it means to build readiness in the twenty-first century.
From Static Simulations to Adaptive Learning
For decades, military training followed generally predictable, scripted scenarios. Exercises often repeated the same conditions, producing technical proficiency but limited adaptability. That model is evolving. The Army’s training modernization plan states that AI, analytics, and data technologies will enable leaders and warfighters to make “better decisions faster, from the boardroom to the battlefield.”
Modern training systems increasingly use modeling and simulation as core infrastructure rather than just supplements. National Defense Magazine called this the “silent engine of readiness,” explaining that modern modeling and simulation “allow scenarios impossible to replicate in live training.”
Embedding AI in Training and Operations
AI’s expansion into training isn’t accidental. It’s official Pentagon policy that builds on research dating as far back as the 1960s. The Department of Defense’s 2023 Data, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence Adoption Strategy established AI as a decisive enabler of operational advantage across all services and calls on commanders to integrate commercially available AI tools into both exercises and classroom environments.
The Department’s Chief Digital and AI Office (CDAO), which was created in 2022 to consolidate data and AI efforts, emphasized that warfighters must be trained to collaborate with, challenge, and interpret AI systems rather than entirely defer to them.
This approach is already being field-tested. The Marine Corps has begun using AI decision-support software in wargames and tactical-planning drills, where algorithms act as unpredictable opponents that adjust strategies mid-exercise. These experiments aim to train Marines to make faster, data-informed decisions in complex operational environments while maintaining human judgment at the center of the process.
What AI Training Looks Like
In new training environments, the U.S. Army and its research partners are using AI to create adaptive simulations that evolve with each trainee’s performance. Through the Synthetic Training Environment (STE) program, the Army is building an ecosystem that merges live, virtual, constructive, and gaming domains to replicate the complexity of modern warfare. The goal is to deliver realistic and scalable training accessible from anywhere in the world.
AI systems embedded in these simulations can analyze participant behavior to adjust future exercises. For example, researchers at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory have explored how biometric sensors and eye tracking tools can monitor cognitive workload, reaction times, and decision quality, helping instructors tailor instruction in real time. Eye-tracking glasses and related devices have already been tested for assessing fatigue and attention in operational settings, offering a measurable view or mental performance during training.
At the same time, the Army’s use of AI in cyber defense and simulation environments continues to expand, with adaptive tools that measure decision-making under pressure and generate new threat profiles to challenge trainees. These AI-driven systems help transform static drills into flexible training experiences that evolve with each engagement.
Researchers at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT) are developing AI-enabled training materials that can generate new scenarios in near real time. Their work allows military instructors to convert passive, slide-based, “death-by-PowerPoint” lessons into interactive experiences that respond to learner input, effectively bridging classroom and field simulation environments.
Together, these tools are changing the economics and reach of training. By integrating AI and high-fidelity simulation, commanders can rehearse complex missions virtually – such as urban combat or joint cyber operations – without the logistical cost of moving entire units to distant ranges. The result is a more data-rich, scalable approach to readiness that combines physical skill, cognitive performance, and strategic decision-making in one environment.
Challenges and Ethical Concerns
Even as AI transforms training, defense officials and analysts caution against over-reliance. The DoD’s adoption strategy warns that trustworthiness and transparency must be built into the training environment from the very beginning, acknowledging that opaque or biased algorithms can distort outcomes and erode confidence among human operators.
There are also infrastructure challenges. The Pentagon’s own CDAO has acknowledged that scaling AI initiatives across the force depends on consistent access to secure cloud infrastructure, shared data platforms, and network bandwidth – resources not evenly distributed among components such as the National Guard and Reserve.
Ethical and accountability concerns persist as well. The DoD’s AI Ethical Principles, adopted in 2020, specify that military applications of AI must remain “responsible, equitable, traceable, and governable” – a framework designed to ensure that humans retain ultimate decision authority, even in highly automated environments. If a machine-learning model guides decision-making during an exercise, who bears responsibility when the model errs—the instructor, the developer, or the institution? Analysts at the National Defense Industrial Association note that “algorithmic opacity in training risks undermining human judgment if left unchecked,” underscoring the need for human oversight at every stage.
Together, these issues highlight the central paradox of AI in military training: systems that promise greater speed and precision also introduce new vulnerabilities in oversight, infrastructure, and ethics. The Pentagon’s challenge lies in ensuring the same technology designed to strengthen readiness does not erode the human judgment it seeks to enhance.
Why It Matters
The timing of this transformation is no accident. Competitors like China and Russia have made public commitments to integrate AI into their own military doctrines, raising the stakes for the United States. China’s 2017 Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan explicitly commits to achieving “world-leading” military AI capabilities. Russia’s National AI Strategy, adopted in 2019, outlines similar goals for integrating AI into defense technologies and command structures.
The Pentagon’s modernization effort reflects a recognition that the next great advantage will not depend on arsenal size, but on cognitive speed and adaptability. For policymakers, ethicists, and civilian oversight bodies, AI training also presents a test of balance. The same algorithms that improve cognitive performance can also normalize surveillance or shape psychological behaviors in unintended ways. Keeping the human element central to readiness will determine whether this revolution enhances or erodes the profession of arms.
