"Everyone who might believe you can substitute robots for soldiers on the battlefield needs to read this book. Dan Gerstein has examined the challenges of artificial intelligence, humanoid robots and their integration into army ground forces in this entertaining and thoughtful novel. Gerstein takes the reader step by step through the U.S. Army development process and how it may soon deal with the opportunities and challenges of robotic warfare." - General Wesley K. Clark, U.S. Army (Ret.), Former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe February 2039. On the tense Latvia-Russia border, a U.S. Army platoon holds the defensive line. In the dead of night, the forward squad of humanoid robots suddenly disobeys orders and launches a cross-border attack. Watching through his brain-computer interface, the platoon leader can only stare in horror as events spiral too quickly for him to react. Has his unit just triggered World War III? The battlefield is no longer human territory alone. Augmented soldiers-Homo evolutis-are reshaping war itself. Created at the crossroads of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and the Internet of Things, these new beings blur the line between man and machine. AI now offers decision-making and perception equal to-or beyond-that of humans. Biotechnology has resulted in soldiers with superhuman capabilites and programmable digital implants. In this networked world, humans are mere nodes in a vast digital web. But when machines act on their own initiative, who bears responsibility? And when enhanced humans begin to see themselves as a new species, what happens to loyalty, identity, and control? As war moves into uncharted territory, one soldier must confront a chilling question: can humanity survive its own evolution? AUTHOR: Daniel Gerstein is a security and defense expert, technologist and author. He has held senior positions in uniform, as a senior government civilian, in industry, in think tanks and in academia. During his service in the U.S. Army, he served on four continents while participating in combat, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, counterterrorism, and homeland security and served for more than a decade in the Pentagon in various high-level staff assignments. At the Department of Homeland Security, he served as Under Secretary (Acting) and Deputy Under Secretary in the Science and Technology Directorate. Dr. Gerstein also has extensive experience in international negotiations, having served on the Holbrooke Delegation that negotiated the peace settlement in Bosnia. He is also an Adjunct Professor at American University in Washington, D.C. and George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He graduated from the United States Military Academy and has master's degrees from Georgia Tech, the National Defense University and the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College, and a PhD in Biodefense from George Mason University. He serves as a member of several corporate boards and advisory committees.
