Staff Sgt. Dakota Karlsen, 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, echo sector controller, looks at a monitor of the surrounding area around the base, Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Aug. 4, 2016.

Staff Sgt. Dakota Karlsen, 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, echo sector controller, looks at a monitor of the surrounding area around the base, Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Aug. 4, 2016. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Justyn M. Freeman

AI-Powered Tools for Commanders Are a Top Priority for ‘Connect-Everything’ Effort

DoD’s artificial-intelligence efforts are moving beyond just helping analysts spot things in video.

Artificial intelligence-powered decision tools to help commanders better make calls on the battlefield will be among the first things the Pentagon data office invests in as part of the military’s effort to link together all the different services across the domains of air, land, sea, space and cyberspace.

These tools can be built only after much work to gather and standardize data and create “appropriate models for descriptive behaviors of what’s going on,” Clark Cully, acting deputy chief data officer at the Defense Department, said at an AFCEA webinar on Tuesday.

But they’re a good example of the coming usefulness of the Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or JADC2, networking effort and of how AI in the Defense Department is moving beyond tools to help over-burdened analysts to ones that assist commanders in crucial decisions. 

Cully said that the decision support tools will have to include “executive analytics” similar to the predictive analytics that Fortune 500 companies use to understand supply, demand, sales, and logistics. The Defense Department is already experimenting with machine learning for understanding accruing cost and what projects might go over schedule, as well as for things like predictive maintenance. Says Cully: “that same methodology also works on the operational side and I’m confident that we’re going to take a measured approach where we gain experience with what the boundaries are [as well as] with what the fragile elements in some of these predictive algorithms that manifest themselves under what conditions they’re well-validated.”

But there’s a lot of work for the Pentagon’s data office to do first. The list includes identifying and combining key data sources across departments, ensuring that data is standardized and machine readable, and connecting the various analytic software tools used by different parts of the Department and the military. 

Finally, all of that has to come together into “a data fabric that will allow us to sense, make sense and act according to the JADC2 strategy,” Cully said. That will require working across the services to show that AI can help with specific missions and then “prioritize [ing] the gaps between these platforms that have been developed by specific organizations.” 

He says that the role of the chief data officer “is to help adjudicate whether we need some glue code or whether we need hardware, tailored black boxes [as in more advanced but less explainable AI forms like neural nets], different processes or maybe training and education to synthesize and connect these platforms.” 

He said that will take up much of this year and the next.

As part of their development, decision aids will have to be tested in as realistic scenarios as possible, including getting them into the hands of operators in controlled environments. One “great thing” about algorithms and AI, he said, is that “you can barrage them with synthetic training data and really robustly map out the perimeters in which they perform in known and constructive ways and develop [tactics, techniques, and procedures] rules of use for these capabilities that respect those boundaries.” 

For the military, those AI testing challenges are a lot bigger than the sorts that tech companies encounter dealing with customers or users, Jane Pinelis, the head of AI testing and evaluation at the Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, or JAIC, said during Tuesday’s event.

Pinelis said that the JAIC last year spent a lot of time figuring out just what it wanted to test for.

“We now have at least written down all of the facets that we care about evaluating on a particular system, starting from the AI tools to the model and algorithm by itself, system integration, human machine teaming, through operational test and then post-deployment run time modeling and, of course, robustness and security checks and checks for adherence to DOD [artificial intelligence] ethics,” said Pinelis. Even though the Defense Department’s testing concerns are bigger and more complex than, well, anybody else’s, partnering with innovators in the private sector is a must, she said. “DOD has to be a customer in some cases of what is already being developed and innovated in academia and industry.”

In coming weeks, JAIC will begin seeking partners in the private sector to help with testing and evaluation, she said.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.