OPERATIONS
The Future of Warfare
Autonomous military machines are serving on active duty around the world , and the US is calling on public and private sector AI leaders to help keep the nation ahead of the field .
Last year , a research team from RAND conducted a survey that presented various scenarios on how the US military might use artificial intelligence . The team asked respondents to share their comfort level in using AI for these scenarios , which varied in terms of factors , such as the distance from the battlefield , the level of destructiveness , and the degree of human oversight over the AI algorithm .
The survey ' s results showed that most AI experts in the US do not oppose the fundamental mission of the US Department of Defense to use AI for various military applications .
“ A global technology revolution is now underway ,” says Antony Blinken , US Secretary of State , who also served as
deputy assistant to then-President Barack Obama and national security advisor to Vice President Joe Biden from 2009 to 2013 . Blinken returned to government as a foreign policy advisor for Biden ' s 2020 presidential campaign , having founded the consulting firm WestExec Advisors with fellow former Obama administration officials Michèle Flournoy , Sergio Aguirre , and Nitin Chadda in 2017 .
“ The world ’ s leading powers are racing to develop and deploy new technologies , like artificial intelligence and quantum computing , that could shape everything about our lives ,” says Blinken . “ From where we get energy to how we do our jobs , to how wars are fought . We want America to maintain our scientific and technological edge because it ’ s critical to us thriving in the 21st-century economy .”
The US federal government was estimated to have more than US $ 6bn in AI-related research-and-development projects in 2021
138 March 2023