In 2017, the Department of Defense launched Project Maven with the aim of integrating artificial intelligence into military operations. Both the project's backstory and its consequences promise to teach us much about modern warfare and the US national security enterprise. On this episode, John Amble and Theo Lipsky explore these lessons via a close read of Katrina Manson's new book, Project Maven: A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare.

Have any thoughts of your own to add? Ideas of what to consider next? Don’t hesitate to reach out at john.amble@westpoint.edu or theodore.lipsky@westpoint.edu.

• (00:00:00) - The podcast logo and its WWII poster inspiration
• (00:03:02) - Welcome to the MWI Book Club
• (00:04:18) - Listener feedback and housekeeping notes
• (00:07:01) - Introducing Project Maven by Katrina Manson
• (00:09:57) - Executive summary of Project Maven
• (00:11:42) - Part one: framing the technology discussion
• (00:15:13) - How the military historically related to technology
• (00:18:41) - AlphaGo, Move 37, and the AI light bulb moment
• (00:23:49) - Early AI applications: drone surveillance and screeners
• (00:27:12) - Project Maven's launch and the intelligence vs. operations divide
• (00:32:33) - Speed, field-to-learn, and building Maven Smart System
• (00:35:18) - Computer vision, transformers, and large language models
• (00:38:51) - Part two: AI, data, and the character of war
• (00:41:03) - The hunt for data and dumpster diving for hard drives
• (00:43:03) - Does tactical data scale to strategic AI uses?
• (00:49:47) - Data retention, access, and applicability problems
• (00:54:33) - Ukraine, Donahue, and workflow as the key to success
• (00:56:05) - Part three: the leadership factor
• (00:58:36) - Cukor's early bureaucratic maneuvering and Palantir origins
• (01:05:42) - The Breakfast Club, Bob Work, and field-to-learn philosophy
• (01:13:47) - Bureaucratic blowback and the rise of the JAIC rivalry
• (01:17:09) - Team building, maverick culture, and personal costs
• (01:23:27) - Harnessing the private sector and the Google controversy
• (01:30:03) - Assessing Cukor's maverick leadership style
• (01:33:01) - Back matter: margin notes on war and Google's identity
• (01:37:05) - Saved rounds: personal anecdotes behind Project Maven
• (01:41:55) - Bonus reads and closing remarks

A venerable critic called it "the best story in the world." It is also these days among the most forgotten. Join cohosts Theo Lipsky and John Amble as they break down the storyt, the meaning, and the lessons of Leo Tolstoy's late-in-life masterpiece about counterinsurgency, Hadji Murat.

• (00:00:06) - Introduction to the MWI Book Club
• (00:00:37) - Introducing Hadji Murad and Tolstoy
• (00:04:38) - Tolstoy's Life and Military Background
• (00:10:05) - Tolstoy's Writing Career and Spiritual Journey
• (00:14:05) - Plot Summary of Hadji Murad
• (00:18:18) - Part One: Hadji Murad Comes In From the Cold
• (00:22:31) - Russian Soldiers and the Fortress Dynamics
• (00:26:15) - Prince Vorontsov and the News of Hadji Murad
• (00:29:32) - The Wood Felling Incident and Officer Vanity
• (00:34:29) - The Cost of Fictional War Reports
• (00:39:49) - Part Two: Vorontsov and Counterinsurgency Optimism
• (00:49:11) - Meeting of Vorontsov and Hadji Murad
• (00:53:50) - Loris-Melikov's Interview with Hadji Murad
• (00:58:30) - The Tsar, Vanity, and Bureaucratic Distortion
• (01:03:21) - Part Three: The Raids and Their Human Cost
• (01:06:55) - Major Petrov, Butler, and Shamil's Self-Deception
• (01:13:39) - Hadji Murad's Final Decision and Death
• (01:20:59) - Aftermath and Literary Reflection
• (01:24:46) - Back Matter: Margin Notes
• (01:29:33) - Fun Facts and Personal Reflections
• (01:34:27) - Bonus Reads and Episode Closing

In 1974, a young Vietnam veteran wrote a science fiction novel about the future of warfare. The novel changed science fiction forever. But more than a half century later, can The Forever War still teach us about war and leadership? Join MWI Book Club cohosts John Amble and Theo Lipsky as they look for answers in the novel's plot and its depiction of military technology—from artificial intelligence to unmanned systems to personnel management.

• (00:00:06) - Book Club
• (00:00:36) - The Forever War: A Book Review
• (00:03:42) - The Forever War
• (00:06:05) - Part 1 of The Battle of the Planet
• (00:07:42) - The Transition From Civilian to Soldier: Part 1
• (00:13:59) - Training and War
• (00:16:35) - The First Casualties in 'Battlefield'
• (00:18:33) - Battle Training and the First Battle
• (00:25:17) - Part 1
• (00:25:44) - The Forever War, William Mandela
• (00:32:31) - The Book of William and Mary Gay Potter
• (00:37:12) - In The Civil Military Divide, Part 3
• (00:40:36) - Haldeman: The Search for Leadership
• (00:50:38) - The End of The War: Technology and War
• (01:00:09) - Beyond The Final Battle
• (01:03:03) - The Forever War, Steven Spielberg
• (01:05:53) - Haldeman on The War in Vietnam Part 3
• (01:09:19) - The End of The Dark Knight
• (01:11:40) - Bookmarking the End
• (01:12:45) - The Odyssey: Moral Injuries
• (01:15:18) - In the Dark Ages of War
• (01:17:18) - On the Draft and the Brain Drain
• (01:19:21) - The Forever War: A Literary Classic
• (01:21:35) - The Forever War: A Response to Starship Troopers
• (01:23:44) - Bonus Reads: Tolstoy's Complaint
• (01:25:44) - The Book Club