A former senior intelligence officer reveals how our espionage practices are being transformed by a new global intelligence conflict, driven by AI and competition with China, and how ordinary Americans can play their part in defending our way of life.
The new global intelligence competition has brought espionage into our workplaces and our living rooms. Adversaries like China, Iran, and Russia have realized that everyday people are targets because we work at companies that supply our industrial base or vote for our leaders. As a result, they target all of us—stealing our financial data and medical records, eavesdropping on our conversations, and using platforms like TikTok and Hollywood movies to influence our opinions and votes.
The Fourth Intelligence Revolution reveals how the swashbuckling adventures of World War II, the spy-versus-spy confrontations of the Cold War, and the “find-fix-and-finish” counterterrorism missions after 9/11 have given way to the most dangerous period of espionage yet. This eye-opening account exposes how intelligence now permeates every corner of society, from economic espionage and biological intelligence to information operations targeting children through online education-even extending to reconnaissance on the far side of the moon. At the same time, it reveals how AI and autonomous technologies are revolutionizing the field, driving us toward a future where most intelligence will be created by machines, for machines.
The Fourth Intelligence Revolution serves as both a warning and a call to action, highlighting the dangers of these emerging threats and the risks of mismanaging this revolution. Yet it also offers hope, demonstrating how we can seize this pivotal moment to reinvent espionage in a way that is more ethical, transparent and democratized. In its boldest argument, the book suggests that we are all, in essence, becoming intelligence officers and that citizens have both the power and responsibility to reclaim intelligence missions to safeguard and strengthen our democracy.
