Machine learning and other artificial intelligence is likely to significantly expand military capabilities, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley said June 21 during a Capitol Hill National Security Forum.

Thinking, data-chewing machines that may even be capable of emotion will be a major influence on the military, with the biggest question being how fast the new technology is available and how it is adapted to military uses, Milley said. “It will have fundamental impact,” he said.

“It is fast approaching,” Milley said, with experts predicting military adaptations as soon as within five years. “I don’t know when. I am not a technical expert, but I do know that it is real, it exists and is expanding rapidly in the commercial sector.”

“It is a technology our opponents will use against us, and it will be to our benefit to get there first,” he said.