I sat with my small AI team along the wall of the windowless conference room in the basement of the Pentagon. We looked on while a technical expert from the intelligence community brief a new classified capability to my boss and my boss’s boss and a hand full of other Air Force generals around the long conference table.

When the briefing was done, the senior general in the room described what he thought the implications of this new technological capability might be in the operational environment.

The general said if he were the Combined Air Component Commander (the commander of all US and allied airpower in a given geographic region), he would want to have his hand on the “acceptable level of risk” dial, to decide based on strategic and operational conditions whether to accept additional risk a new technology might pose or not.

Then—to my shock—he swiveled his chair in my direction and pointed his general officer finger right at me. “And don’t worry,” he said. “Joe’s going to make sure we do it ethically.”

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chapainsights.substack.com/subscribe