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The Military’s Big Bet on Artificial Intelligence

As new AI technology is developed in the name of national security, questions about ethics and responsible use abound.

Undark, BY SARAH SCOLES, 11.29.2023

NUMBER 4 HAMILTON PLACE is a be-columned building in central London, home to the Royal Aeronautical Society and four floors of event space. In May, the early 20th-century Edwardian townhouse hosted a decidedly more modern meeting: Defense officials, contractors, and academics from around the world gathered to discuss the future of military air and space technology.

Things soon went awry. At that conference, Tucker Hamilton, chief of AI test and operations for the United States Air Force, seemed to describe a disturbing simulation in which an AI-enabled drone had been tasked with taking down missile sites. But when a human operator started interfering with that objective, he said, the drone killed its operator, and cut the communications system.

Internet fervor and fear followed. At a time of growing public concern about runaway artificial intelligence, many people, including reporters, believed the story was true. But Hamilton soon clarified that this seemingly dystopian simulation never actually ran. It was just a thought experiment.

“There’s lots we can unpack on why that story went sideways,” said Emelia Probasco, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology.

Part of the reason is that the scenario might not actually be that far-fetched: Hamilton called the operator-killing a “plausible outcome” in his follow-up comments. And artificial intelligence tools are growing more powerful — and, some critics say, harder to control.

Despite worries about the ethics and safety of AI, the military is betting big on artificial intelligence. The U.S. Department of Defense has requested $1.8 billion for AI and machine learning in 2024, on top of $1.4 billion for a specific initiative that will use AI to link vehicles, sensors, and people scattered across the world. “The U.S. has stated a very active interest in integrating AI across all warfighting functions,” said Benjamin Boudreaux, a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation and co-author of a report called “Military Applications of Artificial Intelligence: Ethical Concerns in an Uncertain World.”

Indeed, the military is so eager for new technology that “the landscape is a sort of land grab right now for what types of projects should be funded,” Sean Smith, chief engineer at BlueHalo, a defense contractor that sells AI and autonomous systems,

wrote in an email to Undark. Other countries, including China, are also investing heavily in military artificial intelligence.

“The U.S. has stated a very active interest in integrating AI across all warfighting functions.”

While much of the public anxiety about AI has revolved around its potential effects on jobs, questions about safety and security become even more pressing when lives are on the line……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

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MAKING SURE LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS don’t “hallucinate” wrong information is one concern about AI technology. But the worries extend to more dire scenarios, including an apocalypse triggered by rogue AI. Recently, leading scientists and technologists signed onto a statement that said, simply, “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”………………………………………………………………………

The idea of a rebellious drone killing its operator might fuel dystopian nightmares. And while that scenario may be something humans clearly want to avoid, national security AI can present more subtle ethical quandaries — particularly since the military operates according to a different set of rules……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Internationally, the country is interested in achieving consensus on the ethics of military AI. At a conference in the Hague in February, the U.S. government launched an initiative intended to foster international AI cooperation, autonomous weapons systems, and responsibility among the world’s militaries. (An archived version of the framework noted that humans should retain control over nuclear weapons, not hand the buttons over to the bots; that statement did not appear in the final framework.)

But convincing unfriendly nations to agree to limit their technology, and so perhaps their power, isn’t simple. And competition could encourage the U.S. to accelerate development — perhaps bypassing safeguards along the way. The Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research & Engineering at DOD did not respond to a request for comment on this point…………………………………. more https://undark.org/2023/11/29/military-artificial-intelligence/?utm_source=Undark%3A+News+%26+Updates&utm_campaign=ffad384157-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5cee408d66-185e4e09de-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

December 3, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized