Raymond Piller

Figure IT out.

The Use of AI in the U.S. Military - Advancements

In an ideal world, only the peaceful applications would be needed, but Earth’s inhabitants have thoughts of more than just feeding the hungry and ensuring the quality of life of all humans. Knowing this, leaders around the world have discussed the international consequences surrounding the advancement of AI. These discussions occur in academia, corporations, and politics. Renown philosopher Nick Bostrom has published about the risk to humanity that AI could unleash (Bostrom, 2014). The founder of Tesla and world renown philanthropist Elon Musk openly tweeted his fear that the competition for AI superiority at the national level will likely be the cause of World War III (Musk, 2017). Russian statesman and president, Vladimir Putin, stated that AI turns the tides of global power as we march through the 21st century (Vincent, 2017).

Regardless of the concerns and rhetoric surrounding AI, it is not a weapon. AI is an enabler, much like the advancements of the wheel, electricity (Li, 2017), and the engine. We can do more, including creating weapons, but the advancement is not a weapon. It simply depends on how the advancement is used, and AI is no different. AI is a broad technology that has been around for a while. People already use it in many applications, such as a smart thermostat or a self-flying airplane. Therefore, AI should not be thought of as any anything but an enabler.

Militaries are focused on the promise of AI. They have sped up their research and development of use-cases for AI. AI’s main skill is improving the speed and accuracy of data analysis. This, in turn, allows humans to make faster and more accurate decisions. Whether it’s battlefield planning, such as troop tracking, or logistics, AI can keep up with the speed that information travels in this era. For the U.S. military, AI presents a new way to maintain its stronghold while reducing the risk to U.S. soldiers. For others, most notably Russia and China, AI offers the ability to disrupt U.S. military superiority. Safety, reliability, trustworthiness, and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) limits how militaries use AI.

References

  • Bostrom, N. (2014). Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Oxford University Press.
  • Li, O. (2017, April 28). Artificial Intelligence is the New Electricity — Andrew Ng. Retrieved from Medium: https://medium.com/syncedreview/artificial-intelligence-is-the-new-electricity-andrew-ng-cc132ea6264
  • Musk, E. (2017, September 4). Elon Musk. Retrieved from Twitter: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/904638455761612800
  • Vincent, J. (2017, September 4). Putin says the nation that leads in AI ‘will be the ruler of the world’. Retrieved from The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/4/16251226/russia-ai-putin-rule-the-world

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