Recent advances of AI in warfare have caused military officers, philosophers, theologians, international legal experts, and others to grapple over the future of warfare—a future in which war is automated.

Some decry it as dystopian while others say it would be better for the world. But, we cannot deny that it would make war very efficient. In the hypothetical future, soldiers do not fire guns, but instead type orders into a computer which then allows an AI program to pilot a drone into an enemy tank—most likely driven by an AI as well.

But to make war efficient would make war—something that should be messy and undesirable—more easily pursued. War is already unnatural; it is the act of humans killing each other. But, if we make war automated and seemingly clean, we will be making war detached, cold, and even more inhuman. War should be costly so that when we decide to wage war, it is as a last resort and an immense sacrifice. To hand the controls of war to AI would be to hand another human activity (like art) to the conveniences of AI. That would not only be soulless, but also lead us to more easily dismissing the loss of human souls to war.