War in the Age of Intelligent Machines

by Manuel DeLanda

In the aftermath of the methodical destruction of Iraq during the Persian Gulf War, the power and efficiency of new computerized weapons and surveillance technology have become chillingly apparent. For Manuel DeLanda, however, this new weaponry has a significance that goes far beyond military applications; he shows how it represents a profound historical shift in the relation of human beings both to machines and to information. The recent emergence of intelligent and autonomous bombs and missiles equipped with artificial perception and decision-making capabilities is, for Delanda, part of a much larger transfer of cognitive structures from humans to machines in the late twentieth century.War in the Age of Intelligent Machines provides a rich panorama of these astonishing developments; it details the mutating history of information analysis and machinic organization from the mobile siege artillery of the Renaissance, the clockwork armies of the Thirty Years War, the Napoleonic campaigns, and the Nazi blitzkrieg up to present-day cybernetic battle-management systems and satellite reconnaissance networks. Much more than a history of warfare, DeLanda's account is an unprecedented philosophical and historical reflection on the changing forms through which human bodies and materials are combined, organized, deployed, and made effective.Manuel DeLanda has published essays on philosophy and film theory. He is a computer programmer and a film artist.A Swerve Edition, distributed for Zone Books

Genres: Philosophy, History, War, Politics, Nonfiction, Science, Technology

280 pages, Paperback

First published December 26, 1991

About the author

Manuel DeLanda (b. in Mexico City, 1952), based in New York since 1975, is a philosopher, media artist, programmer and software designer. After studying art in the 1970s, he became known as an independent filmmaker making underground 8mm and 16mm films inspired by critical theory and philosophy. In the 1980s, Manuel De Landa focused on programing, writing computer software, and computer art. After being introduced to the work of Gilles Deleuze, he saw new creative potential in philosophical texts, becoming one of the representatives of the 'new materialism'.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

War in the Age of Intelligent Machines posits a whole phylum of life known as the "machinic phylum" made up of non-biological but self-organizing structures like storm systems, naturally occurring drainage networks, and up to and including computers and artificial intelligence. De Landa explains that humans have acted as a sort of midwife for the machinic phylum, helping to develop its tree of life and thriving as a consequence. In addition to this theory, he proposes that war and society have coevolved to a great degree, even to the point that war has acted as a shepherd for society, guiding it through its many stages and ensuring its steady evolution and survival. With these two principles as a guide, he sets about the task of rewriting history. It's dry at times (for instance as he methodically describes the role of morale and tactics in Napolean's armies) but the journey is worth taking and the overarching conclusions that he reaches are fascinating and do seem to provide some good explanatory power in regards to history and technology (and particularly the history of technology -- something I'm interested in as a human and a technologist). The book is dated in a number of ways -- for one thing, it was written before the emergence of the internet as we know it -- there is a reference to something called "INTERNET" towards the end of the book, but the internet is not even included in the book's index. He does seem to predict its eventual development, along with a number of other developments in computer science (neural networks and other AI practices, for instance). These asynchronicities make the book fun in a special way, and the continuous reference to Chaos Theory and it's associated jargon ("bifurcations", "strange atractors", etc) placed it firmly in the 90s which is also fun in its own way. A good read.

[Xbal · Rating 5 out of 5]

illuminating, a completely new view of war...

[Eric Phetteplace · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a disclaimer, I only read about half of this book before it was recalled by someone else. I'm not particularly enamored of De Landa's writing style; he doesn't spice up the language often enough and frequently quotes entire paragraphs at a time. As a scholar, his work is interesting, and I really appreciate the de-centering of humanity's role in his works, which shows through here in how the "machinic phylum" and certain singularities influence military/industrial development. That being said, he's not really developing new ideas so much as applying a limited set of Deleuzoguattarian formulas using numerous scientists and historians as supporting evidence. The uninitiated would be better off with his "A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History," which is very similar but covers much more ground and it's more interesting ground at that.

[Danyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the most important (and certainly the most useful) book I've ever read about the history of computers and cybernetics.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very intriguing read, the concept of this book is that it catalogs the evolution of machines from the most basic physics to the Internet and the very beginnings of AI. Much of the book details how the biological phylum (humans) discovered something in the mechanical phylum which then caused an evolution in that space. Much of the mechanical phylum was initially evolved due to war or other similar situations, but then people took it and converted it to use for the everyday individual and then the military groups would use that technology to then cause another evolution. It also talks about the several points in history when evolution in the mechanical phylum caused major changes in the underlying understanding of how it should be used. This book is a little bit outdated in terms of where it ended, but the history and concepts that it walks through are fascinating and provides a unique perspective on the relationship between humans and technology.

[Vikas Erraballi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice companion to Anderson, van Creveld, Luttwak, Isaacson, Edwards. In many ways a superior synthesis of those.

[宗儒 李 · Rating 5 out of 5]

看了一個多月總算是看完了... 這本書東拉西扯講了一堆東西，雖然是上個世紀九零年代的書但在 2021 年讀也是非常切中要點。有一段在講 warfare being infused into managerial science 的，讀到那邊的時候剛好聽到目前公司的老闆在講 win rate 跟戰略目標之類的，個人是覺得也算是有開到腦洞的一本書。除了字很小看得很累之外，真的是很推。

[Святослав · Rating 5 out of 5]

Old, but valuable and profound

[Derek Jacoby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Which at first struck me as not my speed became absorbing to me. I must understand more of the metaphysics that have driven the military in the world throughout history

[Nick Black]

Amazon 2008-11-05. I celebrate our bold new leader by developing a bold new interest in De Landa!

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and clearly written.

[Leonardo]

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