tl;dr It's an automated image classification system ("Tank division identified"), with some ability to identify and predict movement of said objects ("Tank divi

tl;dr It's an automated image classification system ("Tank division identified"), with some ability to identify and predict movement of said objects ("Tank division likely moving east"). Not sure how the Verge author jumped from predictive defense analytics to "it's a brain!." I'm also highly skeptical of this system's predictive abilities. I recall a similar system (also described as "modeled after the human brain," whatever that means) from my time at a major defense contractor. It tried to predict the movements of the enemy and feelings of the non-combatant population via scrapings of news sites, social media, and other online sources. Never mind that the target battlefield was Afghanistan, where Internet adoption isn't quite 100%.