November 20, 2017
It’s time for congressional hearings on weaponized AI
Progress in AI technology, according to one of its leading researchers, will bring about “an equally large transformation” as the electricity revolution did roughly a century ago. That’s not merely hype. America’s technology giants are spending billions to “remake themselves around AI.” It’s no surprise, then, that military and intelligence organizations around the world are looking to do the same. In a study I co-authored on AI and national security for the U.S. Intelligence Community, we found that AI technology is poised to deliver revolutionary capabilities across the landscape of warfare and espionage.
Global leaders have taken notice. This past Monday, The United Nations’ Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons met in Geneva to discuss potential restrictions on robotic weapons systems using AI. Not everyone is eager to participate. In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that “Artificial intelligence is the future. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.” True to form: Russia has dramatically increased spending on robotic weapons platforms. Russia plans for 30 percent of its military to be robotic by 2030.
Read the full op-ed in The Hill.
More from CNAS
-
Preparing the Military for a Role on an Artificial Intelligence Battlefield
Commentary
The Defense Innovation Board—an advisory committee of tech executives, scholars, and technologists—has unveiled its list of ethical principles for artificial intelligence (AI)...
By Megan Lamberth
-
Artificial Intel: Time Is Not On America’s Side
Commentary
The United States reached a crucial milestone on its road to crafting a true national strategy for artificial intelligence (AI) this week. On Monday, the National Security Com...
By Martijn Rasser
-
In Search of Ideas: The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence Wants You
Commentary
Americans don’t want to grow old wondering what happened to their country’s place in the world. U.S. global leadership has fostered international institutions, strengthened hu...
By Robert O. Work & Eric Schmidt
-
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Podcast
War has been a driver of breakthrough technology for a long time. The first waves of artificial intelligence and even the internet came out of DARPA, a defense agency whose or...
By Paul Scharre, Richard Danzig, Arati Prabhakar & Jonathan Wilson
