Panelists participate in a discussion on AI applications at the Potomac Officers Club's Army Summit 2024. Photo by Andrew Nou.
Over the past few years, and especially since the launch of large-scale language models like ChatGPT, the field of artificial intelligence has been driven by unprecedented growth and rapid innovation. We are seeing exciting applications across the defense sector, such as: AI-equipped fighter jets — are understandably at the center of discussions about AI. But some experts believe that the best applications for AI aren't the flashiest.
“I think the best application will be in human augmentation,” he said. Dr. Sek ChaiCo-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Latent AI, Potomac Officers Club“We're not replacing our jobs. We have the cognitive capabilities to do what needs to be done, but we need to do things faster, more efficiently and 24/7. AI can help us be more productive,” he said at the 2024 Army Summit in Washington.
Dr Chai argued that AI should function as an invisible system working in the background to support human users. Just as smartphone users have easy access to GPS, AI should be hassle-free to use to make everyday tasks easier.
“If AI is just there to do a few things and users don't have to think too much about it, then it has done its job. I think those are the applications we should be leveraging,” Chai explained.
Brandy Szczesnythe Army's deputy assistant secretary for research and technology SBIR and xTech portfolio liaison, agreed that the military department's discussion of AI may have placed too much emphasis on next-generation warfighting technologies, when in fact human augmentation is one of the most promising use cases for AI in the defense sector.
“When you ask about areas where AI is most applicable within the Army, it's cognitive balancing tasks,” Szczesny said. “There's always a human involved, and I know that's one of the questions we get asked a lot. There's always going to have to be a human involved in the decision-making chain, but reducing the cognitive burden on the human on their decision-making capabilities has a lot of great benefits.”
Large-scale language models (LLMs) have also shown some promising capabilities, especially with the latest release of ChatGPT 4.0. Dr. Peter BellingThe director of the Intelligent Systems Division at Virginia Tech's Institute for National Security Studies said the latest version of ChatGPT is “natively linguistic” and can converse fluently with people, potentially opening up a new world of cognitive support for human operators.
“We're starting to be able to explain things,” Dr. Belling said of the JD program. “Right now, we're at the level of being able to explain seventh-grade math trigonometry problems. It won't be long before we get to more nuanced explanations, and maybe it'll really start to cross the boundary between being a direct cognitive support or an educational and training tool.”
Still, looking to the future of AI, there are certainly some of the more compelling applications that could unlock immense potential across multiple industries, including defense. Dr. Belling predicted that embodied AI, such as self-driving cars and humanoid robots, could be transformative as the technology continues to develop and improve.
Curious to see how other militaries are harnessing the power of AI? Join the 2024 Air Defense Summit On July 23, learn how Air Force leaders are approaching and adopting AI.
