A team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, is creating an artificial intelligence-driven capability that automates much of the work that goes into designing, setting up, developing, and running wargames. The effort holds promise to dramatically amplify the impact and value of wargames and similar exercises for the military and other government agencies.
Wargames, along with tabletop exercises and similar efforts where key stakeholders simulate potential missions in a gamified context, are powerful tools for exploring mission scenarios. They promote preparedness, strengthen communication and tacit understanding across agencies and organizations, and explore the potential impact of new technologies and capabilities.
To make these critical exercises more efficient, APL saw the potential for large language models (LLMs) to be incorporated into the Advanced Framework for Simulation, Integration and Modeling (AFSIM) — a tool commonly used by the military and the broader national defense community to model weapons platforms and simulate multi-domain conflicts and scenarios.