JSOU’s SOF Professional Podcast | AI and the Future of Military Education

Check out episode two of The Joint Special Operations University’s SOF Professional Podcast! “Episode 2: AI All the Time? The Future of Military Education with Dr. James Lacey”

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming professional military education (PME)—not as a distant possibility, but as a present reality. In this episode, Dr. James Lacey, Horner Chair of War Studies at the Marine Corps University, makes a bold and controversial argument: resisting AI in the classroom is no longer a viable option. Instead, he contends that PME must move decisively toward full integration, or “all AI, all the time,” to prepare military leaders for the realities of modern and future warfare.

Drawing on his firsthand experience redesigning curriculum around AI-enabled learning, Dr. Lacey explains how AI is already reshaping how students research, write, and think. He argues that AI can dramatically accelerate learning, free officers from administrative burdens, and allow educators to shift from lecturing to coaching. Dr. Lacey addresses concerns about academic integrity, intellectual dependency, and faculty resistance, while arguing that failure to adopt AI risks making institutions and educators strategically irrelevant. He emphasizes that tomorrow’s officers will fight alongside AI-enabled systems, and their education must reflect that reality today.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

– Why resisting AI in professional military education may already be a strategic mistake

– How AI is transforming curriculum design, student learning, and faculty roles

– Whether AI strengthens or undermines critical thinking among experienced military professionals

– How AI may redefine assessment, teaching methods, and the purpose of PME itself

– Why AI literacy will be essential for future officers operating in AI-enabled and AI-driven warfare

– The future of military education will not simply include artificial intelligence, it will depend on leaders who understand how to learn, think, and fight alongside it.

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