Promethean Shame

Promethean Shame

From Command and Control by Peter Roberts

April 26, 2026 · 40 min · Season 5 · Episode 22

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of machine bias in military decision-making and the need to reclaim human agency in the age of AI.

There is a tendency (particularly in militaries) to view machines as less fallible than humans. The rapid and passionate adoption and use of AI tools in military headquarters is a notable manifestation of machine/automation bias: to operate at machine speed is viewed by many in uniform as the panacea and—according to doctrine—offers those with it a preordained right to victory. The critical lessons identified in the IDF use of 'Lavender' and 'Where's Daddy?' in Gaza from 2024, and apparently now built into the US military's MAVEN tool, have been ignored. According to Dr Elke Scharwz, militaries really need to start understanding and embracing human agency in decision-making: something that was present for millennia but is now actively being forgotten as AI tools and systems replace people. The lack of friction, debate, argument, dissension, and human discussion over targets and targeting should concern us all. As humans feel increasingly inferior to the AI tools they create, the old idea of Promethean Shame raises its head again: Elke advocates taking back control of technology instead of simply adapting ourselves to it. Per Christopher Coker "We must choose our tools carefully…

People in this episode

Host: Peter Roberts

Guest: Dr Elke Scharwz

Topics covered

  • AI in military
  • machine bias
  • human agency
  • decision-making
  • technology control

Keywords

  • AI tools
  • military
  • decision-making
  • machine bias
  • Promethean Shame

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: IDF, US military

Products: MAVEN tool

Books & works: Warrior Geeks

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