Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming one of the most important assets in global competition, including AI-assisted autonomy and decision-making on the battlefield. But today's AI models are vulnerable to new cyber attacks and could be exploited by adversaries.
Moreover, these models are not robust and reliable enough to coordinate and execute mission-critical decisions that are human-centric in nature.
“AI and autonomous vehicles hold great potential to enable our military to operate in conflict environments without unnecessarily putting our brave men and women at risk – so long as we can trust the AI,” said U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann. “ORNL and Vanderbilt University have the infrastructure and expertise to develop solutions that give national security leaders confidence that these AI systems are safe, reliable and can be counted on.”
Under the new partnership announced this week at the Tennessee Valley Corridor 2024 National Summit in Nashville, Vanderbilt University and ORNL will build complementary research and development capabilities to develop science-based AI assurance approach:
- It ensures that AI-enabled systems deployed for national security missions can operate in the most challenging and contested environments.
- Test and evaluate the resilience and performance of AI tools in mission-relevant environments at scale.
- Give decision-makers the confidence to rapidly adopt and deploy AI-enabled technologies to maintain America's competitive advantage.
Vanderbilt’s fundamental and applied research in the science and engineering of learning-enabled cyber-physical systems, particularly through the renowned Vanderbilt Software Integrated Systems Institute, provides the foundation for AI assurance research.
To address emerging AI threats, ORNL recently established the Center for Artificial Intelligence Security Research (CAISER), drawing on its expertise in high-performance computing, data science, and national security science. CAISER leads large-scale AI security research and AI evaluation, and is capable of training and testing the largest number of AI models.
The partnership will initially focus on enabling the Air Force to fully utilize autonomous vehicles, such as the AI-equipped X-62A VISTA, which Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall recently flew to simulate threats and combat maneuvers without human intervention.
Vanderbilt University and ORNL work together to provide evidence-based assurance that enables Air Force systems to meet Department of Defense requirements for continued authorization to operate in critical national security roles.
“The growth of AI applications is remarkable, especially in commercial markets, but increasingly in the defense sector as well. All users of AI are concerned about the security and reliability of these systems, but no one is more concerned than the Department of Defense, which is actively developing processes to ensure appropriate use,” said Mark Linderman, chief scientist for the Air Force Research Laboratory's Intelligence Directorate. “This partnership advances science so the Air Force can confidently field AI-enabled autonomous vehicles, such as the X-62A VISTA, to improve situational awareness and accelerate human decision-making.”
Autonomous vehicles that can operate completely independently could be a game changer for the U.S. military.
A new collaborative research program between Vanderbilt University and ORNL continues Tennessee's tradition of helping the U.S. maintain global leadership.
