Machine learning and artificial intelligence in counterterrorism: The "realities" of security practitioners and technologists

The chapter explores trends in counterterrorism training of special forces in the UK, France, Ireland, and Kenya. In seeking to organise the use of force in a delimited space, the discipline of security draws upon and is shaped by the "realities" produced by counterterrorism operations, especially the drive to introduce bleeding-edge technology into the experiential world of users. Reality-in-a-box - "boxology" - is attractive to security professionals, even if reality refuses to stay put. The particular style of reasoning in, and the praxis of, counterterrorist training make the adoption of advanced technologies such as X Reality kits seem to be an obvious solution - even if, as we problematise, such technologies often work off flawed data, poor-quality theories, and exaggerated impressions of human behaviour.