PART XI — Military, Defense, and Statecraft

Part XI examines how virtual human and digital avatar technologies intersect with military power, defense research, and information warfare. Chapter 48 maps the institutional landscape behind defense-oriented virtual humans, tracing the roles of bodies like the Office of Naval Research, the U.S. Army, the Institute for Creative Technologies, the Army Research Laboratory, and PEO STRI in developing avatars for military training, education, and human-machine teaming—much of it converging in the Army's Synthetic Training Environment and showcased at venues like I/ITSEC—while also flagging the involvement of commercial players (such as Meta researchers) and intelligence-linked investment vehicles like In-Q-Tel in advancing these capabilities. Chapter 49 turns to the offensive and manipulative side of the same technologies, surveying how state and intelligence actors deploy persona-management software, sockpuppets, bots, deepfakes, and avatar-driven perception management to wage information warfare and "cognitive attacks," with case studies including Russia's evolving disinformation playbook and AI's role in the 2024 Indian parliamentary election, alongside a more measured reflection on avoiding both alarmism and complacency about the deepfake threat. Together the two chapters argue that digital humans are becoming dual-use instruments of statecraft—simultaneously tools for building military readiness and weapons for influencing and deceiving populations.

PART XI — Military, Defense, and Statecraft

Chapter 48. Virtual Humans in Defense Research

• The Evolution and Applications of Virtual Human Technologies in Defense and Research

• The Office of Naval Research and Its Interest in Virtual Humans

• U.S. Army Virtual Human Research: Military Training, Education, and Human-Machine Teaming

• The Interplay Between the Institute for Creative Technologies and the Army Research Laboratory

• Virtual Beings in the U.S. Army's Synthetic Training Environment (STE)

• Advancing Military Training: ARL, PEO STRI, and the Synthetic Training Environment (STE)

• Advancing Military Readiness: The Role of Digital Human Avatars at I/ITSEC

• Human-AI Teaming Research: Advancing Collaborative Intelligence

• Meta Researchers Complicit in the Development of AI Weapon Systems

• The Role of In-Q-Tel in Advancing Avatar Technologies: An Analytical Overview

Chapter 49. Information Warfare and Manipulation

• Online Manipulation: How Intelligence Agencies Use Persona Management, Sockpuppets, and Bots

• Persona Management Software: Implications for Online Privacy and Information Integrity

• Doppelganger Diplomacy: Evolution of Russia's Sociotechnical Disinformation Tactics

• The Role of Deepfakes in Influence Operations: Actors, Tactics, and Implications

• Cognitive Attacks in the Age of Digital Humans: Implications and Challenges

• Perception Management and the Role of Avatars

• Navigating the Nuances of Deepfake Hysteria: Lessons from Chicken Little and Pollyanna

• AI Technology and Its Role in the 2024 Indian Parliamentary Election