U.S. Naval War College Hosts Conference on AI in Wargaming

NEWPORT, R.I.—The U.S. Naval War College (NWC) hosted the first conference on AI in analytical wargaming at its Newport, Rhode Island, campus on Sept. 29-30, 2026. 

The inaugural conference, titled: “State of the Field: AI in Analytical Wargaming” aimed to assess the inventory of current, possible, and desirable AI interventions, take record of the risks, opportunities, constraints and enhancements of AI, analyze examples of AI changing military or intelligence related processes, as well as identify the new skills, knowledge, partnerships, data and tools needed to implement AI in wargames.

Dr. Nina Kollars, senior research and capabilities advisor to U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and non-resident research fellow of the NWC Cyber Innovation Policy Institute (CIPI) served as the event coordinator and master of ceremonies at the conference.

“The Naval War College is perhaps best known for wargaming, so I thought about what the integration of AI into wargaming could look like,” Kollars said. “This conference came about when Provost [Michael] O’Hara and I agreed that the War Gaming Department and CNWS needed to make a statement about AI integration into wargaming, and we need to convene people to work on what we want to say, and where we think there’s risk and value and the matrices that follow. We chose to do a SOTF – State of the Field – on where we are in integrating AI into wargaming, where we want to go, and the challenges we’re going to face on the way.”

Kollars worked very closely with Dr. Jon Compton, chair of the NWC War Gaming Department, who helped facilitate and delivered remarks at the conference.

“What Dr. Kollars and I want this conference to do is get people to think harder about what AI can do for wargames,” Compton said. “This is a brand-new technology, and we’re trying to integrate it through instruction. What I want to do is have people start thinking in terms of innovation, what we can do to enhance our own techniques, and what we can do with the results of that effort. I want people to come away with new ideas and inspiration, and to take those into the enterprise.”

NWC War Gaming Department Associate Professor Richard Johnson served as a facilitator for an analyst group during the conference, working with attendees to determine how exactly they could integrate AI into wargaming.

“On day one, we looked at how we could use AI in designing, developing, analyzing and adjudicating in wargames, and we identified a number of areas where AI could help assist us,” Johnson said. “I think we all recognize at this point that AI won’t be able to do wargames by itself, but it can help design systems for humans overlooking the work.”

The conference took place over two days and provided opportunities for engagement across four working sessions, question-and-answer segments, and multiple guest speaker remarks – including one delivered by an AI personality developed by Dr. Compton.

The conference also included experiments, one of which used an audio capture device to feed multiple voices in a crowded room to an algorithm to see if it could pick out voices of individual people. The results of that experiment and other reports of the data gathered at the conference will be collated and reported out at a later date.

There were approximately 35 attendees at the conference with a support team of 25, some of which included NWC staff and faculty.

Established in 1884, NWC informs today’s decision-makers and educates tomorrow’s leaders by providing educational experiences and learning opportunities that develop their ability to hedge aggressively, innovate continuously, fight distributively, delegate confidently, and command with clarity within complex battlespaces.