For the longest time, many artificial intelligence companies have denounced the use of their tech and developments to help the military in their efforts, but that greatly changed last year and the US Pentagon is reaping the benefits now. More specifically, the Pentagon regarded that generative artificial intelligence (AI) has greatly improved and upgraded their so-called "kill chain."
Despite all of these, there are still AI companies who have reservations about using their developments to help create next-generation AI weapons that can harm and eliminate people and more.
Pentagon Lauds AI For Helping Them Improve Their 'Kill Chain'
The Pentagon's Chief Digital and AI Officer, Dr. Radha Plumb, recently shared with TechCrunch that artificial intelligence has greatly improved the federal agency's technologies, including its renowned kill chain. In his recent statement, Dr. Plumb regarded that generative AI has the capabilities to go over different scenarios and explore many options that the military can take for defensive measures.
Thanks to generative AI, the Department of Defense was given a chance to greatly take advantage of their tools for commanders to use, with the technology allowing them to explore countless options that give them a chance to use the most appropriate one.
The Pentagon's kill chain benefits greatly from generative AI as it helps it during the planning and strategizing phase, with the technology helping speed up the process that would naturally be decided by humans.
AI Companies Still Avoid Helping Build AI Weapons
This massive benefit of generative AI for the Pentagon's use of technology for the country's defenses and the military's advancements are already ramping up their efforts, and this could potentially help in having Silicon Valley ease restrictions in the future. That being said, Dr. Plumb regarded that the Pentagon is still clear on what kind of technologies will receive AI's helping hand as they are adamant on what will and won't receive the feature.
Moreover, the policies and restrictions from AI companies are still present on the use of their technologies to build AI-powered weapons despite this growing fondness by the Pentagon.
Artificial Intelligence and the US Military
Artificial intelligence is regarded as the most advanced technology of this generation, and it has been applied to countless industries and developments in the world, but there are still companies that avoid its use in weapons. That being said, while the US military does not have wide access to AI developments for weapons applications, there are other ways where it utilizes the tech to its advantage, and this includes its utilization for detection and tracking.
There was a previous development where the United States Air Force experimented with tasking an artificial intelligence system to pilot an F-16, autonomously flying the aircraft and performing breathtaking maneuvers with the real-life fighter jet. US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall historically rode the AI-controlled F-16 on a demonstration last year, to test the aircraft.
That being said, many companies like OpenAI and Anthropic made a massive move by lifting several restrictions on their AI policies which allowed them to expand their partnerships with Defense and other military contractors. With this recent expansion, the US Pentagon was able to utilize generative AI to upgrade many of its operations, including the improvements to its kill chain that expanded on the country's defenses.
