Defence tech: From TNT to AI

Since the dawn of time, humans have turned to technological innovations to win wars.

In the battle of Agincourt, French knights saw their superior numbers whittled down by English longbows. On the fields of Flanders, tanks and machine guns heralded a new age of mechanized destruction. The advent of TNT brought explosive power to battlefields long before the atomic bomb changed the face of war forever.

At a certain point, technological developments meant that physical strength, and even numerical superiority, could be largely decoupled from victory. Those with the biggest guns, and the smartest machines, won out.

Now, as we enter an AI age, many wonder how information technology will transform conflict once more.