How is the Pentagon Using AI to Enhance Security and Defense Initiatives?
The Pentagon now has broad principles detailing the military’s ethical use of artificial intelligence.
In recent times, US military authorities have highlighted the significance of incorporating artificial intelligence into everything from autonomous platform operations to intelligent analysis, logistics, and back-office duties. The military is interested in artificial intelligence solutions for everything from data analysis to surveillance, maintenance, and medical care, but before diving headfirst into an AI future, the Defense Department is laying out certain ethical rules to follow. The Pentagon now has broad principles detailing the military’s ethical use of artificial intelligence. The five criteria apply to the application of AI technologies in both combat and non-combat situations.
Responsible: While being responsible for the development, deployment, and use of AI capabilities, DoD officials will use necessary discretion and care.
Equitable: The department will take active effort to ensure that AI capabilities are free of inadvertent prejudice.
Traceable: The department’s AI capabilities will be created and deployed so that employees have a thorough understanding of AI technologies, development processes, and operational procedures. This comprises approaches, data sources, design procedures, and documentation that are transparent and auditable.
Reliable: The department’s AI capabilities will be used for specific, well-defined purposes, and their safety, security, and efficacy will be tested.
Governable: The department will design and construct AI capabilities to perform their intended activities while detecting and avoiding unforeseen outcomes, as well as the capacity to detach or deactivate deployed systems that exhibit unwanted behavior.
A 2012 military regulation mandates that humans operate automated weaponry, but it does not address AI’s larger applications. The new US principles are intended to guide both combat and non-combat operations, ranging from intelligence gathering and surveillance to predicting plane or ship maintenance difficulties.
The following are some of the advantages of AI in the military in terms of security and defense:
Improved cyber-security
When organizations are successfully targeted for cyberattacks, employees are frequently forced to turn off their machines and rely completely on pen-and-paper means until IT specialists are able to resolve the issue. It’s easy to see how devastating a similar strike on advanced military technology could be.
The US Army has issued a request for information on how artificial intelligence-powered cybersecurity solutions could protect soldiers’ tactical and communications networks. It aims to see how the system can safeguard against threats that are self-adaptive and autonomous.
Improved Threat Detection
Battlefields are incredibly unsafe environments, but the US Army believes AI can help mitigate some of the dangers. It is developing the Aided Threat Recognition from Mobile Cooperative and Autonomous Sensors system (ATR-MCAS). Soldiers will be able to detect threats faster and receive advice on how to deal with them thanks to the technology.
The Army’s strategy entails equipping its air and ground vehicles with smart sensors. They gather information and deliver it to an AI agent, who analyses it and makes decisions based on it. The technology may, for example, suggest which risks soldiers should address first.
According to a report, U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) leaders plan to invest US$874 million next year in artificial intelligence (AI)- Pentagon related technologies to boost deterrence against potential adversaries like China, as well as to enhance efficiencies in computing, command and control, and logistics. In efforts to keep technological pace with China and other adversaries, DOD is leveraging technological advantages and investing in cutting-edge technologies like AI, hypersonic technology, cyber, and quantum computing, among others, according to DOD budget documents. New technologies like AI, autonomy, and robotics will change the character of warfare, resulting in a faster, more lethal, and more distributed battlefield, experts say.
