Arms race

Pentagon Scientists Worry the US Is Losing the Artificial Intelligence Arms Race

Pentagon scientists worry that the U.S. could be on the losing side of a AI arms race.

The Defense Science Board’s much-anticipated “Autonomy”study sees promise and peril in the years ahead. The good news: autonomy, artificial intelligence, and machine learning could revolutionize the way the military spies on enemies, defends its troops, or speeds its  supplies to the front lines. The bad news: AIin commercial and academic settings is moving faster than the military can keep up. Among the most startling recommendations in the study: the United States should take “immediate action” to figure out how to defeat new AI-enabled operations.

In issuing this warning, the study harks back to military missteps in cyber and electronic warfare. While the Pentagon was busy developing offensive weapons, techniques, plans, and tricks to use against enemies, it ignored U.S. equipment’s own vulnerabilities.