Armed Forces, Public Opinion and the Algorithm: Main Actors of National Defense in Spain

In Spain, demoscopic studies have revealed that the Armed Forces, together with the State Security Corps and Forces, is the institution that garners the most respect and consideration among the Spanish people. Studies also revealed a social distortion of that feeling as it does not correspond to the attitude of voluntarily collaborating with them to defend Spain militarily. This work has sought for the causes that have produced this social distortion in light of the population’s understanding of armed conflicts, the plots that wars weave, or the role of the Armed Forces. Using secondary sources provided by the Center for Sociological Research, linguistics, and the digital press in the last years, it is concluded that algorithms and Artificial Intelligence, both in terms of the weapons and the new communication and information technologies, have become essential tools to achieve social cohesion and the support of public opinion on matters related to the Armed Forces and armed conflicts.