Andrew Ilachinski, Ph.D.

Andy Ilachinski specializes in the mathematical and computer modeling of complex adaptive systems. He pioneered the application of agent-based modeling and evolutionary programming techniques to military operations research problems and developed two of the earliest agent-based models of land warfare. His research topics have included radar modeling and electronic warfare, the dynamics of human and robotic swarms and terrorist networks, complex-network-based data visualization and analysis tools, the development of multi-dimensional risk assessment tools, and the potential impact of sonar on protected and endangered marine mammals.

Ilachinski’s work on artificial intelligence and machine learning dates to the early 1990s, when he developed a tool using neural networks to support the electronic warfare community at the Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island, Washington, where he was embedded as part of CNA’s Field Program. Since then, he has worked on many AI/ML projects, including the 2017 publication of one of the first comprehensive reviews of AI, autonomy, and swarms in a military context. Ilachinski also co-hosted CNA’s AI with AI podcast from 2017 to 2023.

Ilachinski has a PhD in theoretical physics and serves on the editorial board of two international journals: Journal of Cellular Automata and the International Journal of General Systems. He also authored two graduate-level mathematical physics textbooks, Cellular Automata and Artificial War, and contributed chapters to others, including Springer-Verlag's 11-volume Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science. He has briefed the JASON Defense Advisory Panel on complexity science.