Human-machine teams driven by AI are about to reshape warfare

"Ghost", 24, a soldier with the 58th Independent Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Army, catches a drone while testing it so it can be used nearby, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, near Bakhmut, Ukraine, November 25, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis /File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Some technology experts believe innovative commercial software developers now entering the arms market are challenging the dominance of the traditional defense industry, which produces big-ticket weapons, sometimes at glacial speed.

It is too early to say if big, human-crewed weapons like submarines or reconnaissance helicopters will go the way of the battleship, which was rendered obsolete with the rise of air power. But aerial, land and underwater robots, teamed with humans, are poised to play a major role in warfare.