Artificial intelligence will change the nature of battlefields, and the Department of Defense’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) is working to counter future threats.
“JAIC is now up and running, and open for business,” Dana Deasy, the chief information officer for the Department of Defense, said before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities on Tuesday. “The speed and scale of the change required is daunting, but we must embrace it if we are to reap the benefits of continued security and prosperity for the future.”
Deasy was directed to establish the JAIC in June with the goal to accelerate the delivery of AI-enabled capabilities, scale the department-wide impact of AI and synchronize the department’s AI activities. So far, the JAIC has 30 uniformed and civilian employees, and is tasked with coordinating all DoD AI-related projects above $15 million.
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Deasy testified that China and Russia are making significant investments in AI for military purposes.
“These investments threaten to erode our technological and operational advantages and destabilize the free and open international order,” Deasy said. “The Department of Defense, together with our allies and partners, must adopt AI to maintain its strategic position, prevail on future battlefields and safeguard this order.”
Lisa Porter, deputy undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, said that the U.S. is still ahead in the AI arms race, according to C4ISRNET.
“I would say we are not behind. Right now we are actually ahead; however, we are in danger of losing that leadership position,” Porter said.
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