The Future of GEOINT Education, Training, and Tradecraft in the Age of AI

During the 2020 DGI, I used a clip from the movie "Angel Has Fallen," featuring a swarm of AI-controlled attack drones, to illustrate the future of GEOINT. Back then, it seemed like plausible sci-fi. Fast forward to today, and we see AI-controlled drone swarms used in entertainment, agriculture, environmental monitoring, emergency services, and conflict. For GEOINT, perhaps nothing typifies the “Age of AI” more than automated target recognition. Some believe this shift could be the most impactful change in defense doctrine, tactics, and technology since the nuclear era. Others say that this technology, along with new strategic competition, changing demographics, and climate change, is transforming all aspects of conflict for the coming decades. A pressing question for GEOINT educators, trainers, and those in the tradecraft is how to prepare for this future.

My answer and suggestion is that GEOINT educators, trainers, and tradecraft professionals of NATO and Five Eyes (henceforth referred to as the Western Allies) countries prepare for the future by coming together to share learning experiences, emergent concepts, and pedagogies. In simple terms, I am proposing an international GEOINT learning ecosystem. The suggestion is unique in that it is laser-focused on fundamentally enabling GEOINT learning. It is born out of my experiences with other organizations with missions that provide parts of this ecosystem. Today, GEOINT education, training, and tradecraft form a loosely connected trifecta most often contained within the intellectual boundaries of single nations. In this trifecta, education provides an understanding of concepts and technologies, training focuses on practical applications in simulated environments, and tradecraft, often in classified work settings, involves experience in the skillful execution of techniques. Pedagogy, the method of learning, enables the learning process.

The Western Allied countries are an ideal place to begin. Practicing GEOINT in the context of an alliance of nations requires and builds an understanding of two distinct parts. One part is the GEOINT conducted by the individual nation. The second is GEOINT produced in a political or military alliance. National and alliance GEOINT can be fundamentally different. A country’s GEOINT tradecraft belongs to the nation’s culture, laws, and available resources. This contrasts with an alliance’s tradecraft, which belongs to the alliance’s culture, policies, and means of support. The impact of an international exchange is strategic. A learning ecosystem would break down the boundaries and reveal important cultural and organizational insights among the community.

The focus of what to teach is changing which also impacts how to teach. Currently, GEOINT emphasizes technical competencies and an established pedagogy. Mick Ryan, a retired Australian Army Major General, has extensively written about recent conflicts. His thoughts provide insights applicable to important future professional competencies, technology, and culture. Ryan argues that technology democratization has leveled the playing field, and the decisive factors are now the integration of new ideas, improved organizations, and professional preparation. His writings emphasize learning fundamental managerial and human competencies rather than an overwhelming technical focus. Ryan’s observations suggest the following competencies as relevant to GEOINT in the Age of AI:

• Professional Mastery: Master the fundamental concepts such as cultural geography, analytic methodologies, data integration, cartography, and spatial analysis. While AI proficiency is indispensable, the emphasis must remain on the fundamentals.
• Human-Machine Collaboration: Practice human-machine collaboration to ensure a seamless partnership where machines augment human capabilities and improve outcomes. • Leadership and Communication: Develop the ability to appreciate purpose, work with international partners, communicate uncertainty, and generate influence.
• Creativity and Ingenuity: Practice with problems requiring clever solutions. Recent conflicts show the importance of creativity and ingenuity at all levels, particularly in the integration of AI, drones, new organizations, and information operations.
• Adaptability: Exercise with scenarios where change has significantly altered the situation. Propagate an ethos that tolerates failure, allowing learners to hone their cognitive ability and mental agility.
• Ethics: Address the ethics surrounding automation, augmentation, and AI.

Pedagogy, the how to teach, is underappreciated to the detriment of the community. Mastering managerial and human competencies are among the most difficult to teach and learn. It has been suggested that mastery takes 10,000 hours of directed practice. AI can revolutionize GEOINT education, training, and tradecraft mastery. It has the potential to enhance the competency of all learners, from high performers to those who struggle. AI-enabled simulations can walk a learner through an analytic problem, explain complex spatial concepts, and answer technical questions, offering a one-on-one approach to learning. By providing tailored guidance and support, AI can foster a diverse workforce with improved access to opportunities and information, transforming education and training in the tradecraft.

In essence, I am advocating reshaping how Western GEOINT educators, trainers, and tradecraft professionals interact to share experiences, concepts, and pedagogy to adapt to the Age of AI. The learning should have an appropriate balance of technological, managerial, and human competencies. The proposal is quite feasible, as it is born from experiences with organizations already addressing aspects of this overall challenge. As our competitors are rapidly evolving, success in this new environment requires adopting advanced learning technologies, concepts, and organizations to create an intellectual edge.

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