AI and machine learning are all the rage across a range of technology and industrial sectors. Now, the U.S. military is gauging the prospects for leveraging machine learning and other tools in autonomous weapons via emerging human-machine interfaces.
In describing the latest version of the Pentagon’s “offset strategy,” senior U.S. defense officials have in recent months highlighted the military’s desire to leverage AI to develop autonomous weapons. That, Robert Work, deputy U.S. defense secretary, noted in a recent address, “is going to lead to a new era of human-machine collaboration and combat teaming.
Added Work: “Collaboration is using the tactical acuity of a computer to help a human make better decisions and human-machine combat teaming is using manned and unmanned platforms.”
DoD’s “offset strategy” refers to a blueprint designed to maintain technological superiority. Early examples included the miniaturization of nuclear weapons in the 1950s and the integration of microprocessors into conventional weapons such as fighter aircraft in the early 1970s.
“What is it that really is going to make human-machine collaboration and combat teaming a reality?” Work asked in a speech last December. “That is going to be advances in artificial intelligence and autonomy that we see around us every day.” Read more
Source: www.datanami.com