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Iron Man, not Terminator<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Increasing manpower is no longer the answer to these military problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going to industrial age out of this. \u2018Well, it\u2019s just hire 10,000 more people.\u2019 That\u2019s not a sustainable strategy,\u201d Rogers told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Feb. 27 hearing. \u201cAmong the things we\u2019re looking at \u2014 and we\u2019re not the only ones \u2014 is how can you apply technology to overcome the human capital piece.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Technological solutions must augment, not replace humans. Work has commonly described this as the Iron Man, not Terminator, solution. \u201cI tend to think of it more as Iron Man where it\u2019s human-machine collaboration \u2014 where artificial intelligence helps Tony Stark make decisions and augments his capabilities,\u201d Work said in a January podcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps the best example of this is using machines to ferret out meaningful intelligence in gigantic data sets. Information is power, except when there is so much to sift through it is nearly impossible to do so and make actionable decisions in any timely manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are now at the point for the first time I can remember where [processing, exploitation and dissemination] is the shortfall more so than the platforms themselves,\u201d Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, director of defense intelligence for war-fighter support, said during an event in March 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Machines can analyze data sets and video feeds in nanoseconds and point out critical elements for humans. Staffers can then spend their time on analysis of intelligence to enhance and inform decision making on the battlefield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cExisting machine-learning technology, for example, could enable high degrees of automation in labor-intensive activities such as satellite imagery analysis and cyber defense,\u201d according to the intelligence community\u2019s 2018 Worldwide Threat Assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cardillo has been aggressive in pursuing automation and machine-learning technologies to help unburden analysts. He described during a 2016 congressional hearing his frustration with human-machine teaming at NGA, providing an example in which an analyst physically counted 25,000 buildings in a particular area as there was no algorithm designed to do this for them. \u201cThink of the hours he had to spend to do that,\u201d Cardillo exclaimed. \u201cI turned to my head of research and I said: \u2018Don\u2019t let that happen again.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NGA, as a result, has been trying to get to 75 percent automation and 25 percent analytical to allow analysts to tackle hard problem sets and provide anticipatory intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How is DoD solving the problem?<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The White House\u2019s budget request for fiscal 2019 makes clear the Pentagon is looking to spend on several programs related to AI, machine learning and automation as a means of increasing decision speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Line items from the Pentagon\u2019s FY19 budget request point to funding asks in a wide array of AI applications. These include training and war gaming, combat systems, and robotics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few examples include an $87 million request for Air Force experimentation to put operational AI in simulations and field experiments; a $49 million ask for a Navy prototype development program to focus on innovative combat system technologies; a $7.1 million ask for a Marine Corps program to develop drone swarming technology that can fuse AI to enhance situational awareness; and an Army program seeking $4.6 million to improve robots\u2019 perception of their environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other programs remain underway. On a conceptual level, Work created the so-called Third Offset strategy, which sought to counter the advancements in recent years of competitors\u2019 theaterwide C4I grids and leveraging human-machine teaming through artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Current officials have acknowledged that the notion behind the Third Offset lives despite no direct or public reference to the moniker. Another government program, Project Maven, aims to accelerate the Department of Defense\u2019s integration of big data and machine learning, first focusing on processing full-motion video in Iraq and Syria. As top adversaries invest in these capabilities, thereby increasing the pace of decision-making during wartime operations, leaders are adamant the U.S. must take this seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFrom a military perspective, my concern is you potentially lose speed and knowledge. That\u2019s a terrible combination as a warrior,\u201d Rogers told the Senate Armed Services Committee in response to a question asking what he fears if the U.S. doesn\u2019t get this right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSpeed and knowledge are advantages for us historically,\u201d he then added. \u201cOne of my concerns is if we\u2019re not careful, AI potentially gives opponents speed and knowledge better than ours if we\u2019re not careful. I\u2019m not arguing that\u2019s going to happen but I acknowledge we\u2019ve got to look at it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Once considered one answer to preserving U.S. military superiority, AI is now seen by national security leaders as a danger to military operations \u2014 and the need to invest in decision-making technologies is accelerating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":37893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":16,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,29,72,16,32,26],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3268],"class_list":["post-21826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-intel-community-developments","category-it-networks","category-newsletters","category-special-reports"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"7L3PFU4YVRHR7EPRBO6GBV5QYE","arc_canonical_url":"\/it-networks\/2018\/04\/04\/how-artificial-intelligence-went-from-an-advantage-to-a-worldwide-threat\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n