AI Will Not Replace Warriors

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to change the character of the future battlefield and the pace of threats faced in today’s security environment. However, AI will not replace US warriors, says a DoD summary of its AI strategy published recently. Warriors in the US armed forces “remain our enduring source of strength; we will use AI-enabled information, tools, and systems to empower, not replace, those who serve.”
The Strategy states that other nations, particularly China and Russia, are making significant investments in AI for military purposes, including in applications that raise questions regarding international norms and human rights.
The department’s strategic approach to AI emphasizes its rapid, iterative, and responsible delivery and then the use of lessons learned to create repeatable and scalable processes and systems that will improve functions and missions across the department.
Examples include, according to maritime-executive.com:
Improving situational awareness and decision-making. AI applied to perception tasks such as imagery analysis can extract useful information from raw data and equip leaders with increased situational awareness.
Increasing safety of operating equipment. AI has the potential to enhance the safety of operating aircraft, ships and vehicles in complex, rapidly changing situations by alerting operators to hidden dangers.
Implementing predictive maintenance and supply. AI will be used to predict the failure of critical parts, automate diagnostics and plan maintenance based on data and equipment condition. Similar technology will be used to guide provisioning of spare parts and optimize inventory levels.
The DOD will continue funding research and development for “explainable AI” so users can understand the basis of AI outputs and therefore understand, appropriately trust and effectively manage AI systems.
The DOD plans to engage with the open source community by contributing data, challenges, research, and technologies as a vehicle for attracting talent and identifying and advancing new AI technologies.