Artificial intelligence (AI) has permeated pretty much all aspects of the world we live in including the military arms race. Longtime television reporter Ted Kopel delved into the details on a recent episode of CBS This Morning and this is what he found…
Experts interviewed on the Sunday morning show were quoted as saying that one of the most progressive countries when it comes to AI technology used in the military is China. Expounding on that concept, one AI expert interviewed stated that the modern arms race is to China what the Apollo project was to us and that if we don’t step up and keep pace, the alternative could be catastrophic.
According to her, the United States does not know exactly how fast China is advancing in the military AI arena. She also said that she felt that the United States could not afford to become complacent when it comes to the use of AI in the military, using Taiwan as an example…stating that if that Taiwan was attacked by China and we had not adhered to a requisite sense of urgency, the United States would not have time to gear up.
As Ted Kopel said, AI is used to “fill in the gaps of imperfect information,” much like when AI is used in board games. For instance, AI was used (quite admirably) by IBM at the Chess Masters to beat the top player and some of those very same principles used in AI-applied chess matches are applied to warfare. The difference is that when something goes wrong in war, people can die.
Military AI experts were also quoted as saying that best balance in the art of war is AI combined with the oversight of humans and a new United States government office has been created with the intent to ensure that military AI is implemented responsibly and that we proceed with an ethical framework in place – one that is secure and trustworthy.