Biography
Professor Kenneth Payne's research is in political psychology and strategic studies. His latest book, I, Warbot, considers the ways in which Artificial Intelligence will change strategy. It was chosen as a book of the year by The Economist newspaper and by leading IR journal International Affairs.
Earlier books explored the evolution of strategy from apes and early humans to Artificial Intelligence; strategy in the Vietnam War, and the relationship between human evolution and modern, liberal warfare.
Professor Payne has consulted for the governments of the United Kingdom and United States. He’s appeared before Parliamentary committees in the UK and Netherlands. He’s been a NATO research fellow and visiting fellow at Oxford University.
Research Interests
- Strategic studies
- Political psychology
- Artificial Intelligence
Professor Payne is currently exploring the role of empathy and personality in shaping strategy, using the period of the Kennedy administration as a case study.
Publications
Books
- Kenneth Payne, I Warbot: The Dawn of Artificially Intelligent Conflict (London: Hurst & Co. 2021; New York, OUP, 2021)
- Kenneth Payne, Strategy, Evolution, and War: From Apes to Artificial Intelligence (Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2018)
- The Psychology of Strategy: Exploring Rationality in the Vietnam War (London: Hurst & Co. 2015; New York: OUP, 2015)
- The Psychology of Modern Conflict: Evolutionary Theory, Human Nature and a Liberal Approach to War (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015)
Articles
Teaching
Professor Payne teaches across the range of strategic studies topics, with specialist modules on the psychology of conflict and artificial intelligence.
PhD Supervision
Professor Payne is happy to consider PhD proposals in his research area.
Dr Kenneth Payne PURE Profile