In the past couple of years, especially since the launch of large language models like ChatGPT, the field of artificial intelligence has been propelled by unprecedented growth and rapid innovation. Exciting applications across the defense landscape — things like AI-powered fighter jets — have unsurprisingly taken center stage in the AI conversation. But some experts believe the best applications for AI may not be the flashiest ones.
“I think that the best applications will be human augmentation,” said Dr. Sek Chai, co-founder and chief technology officer for Latent AI, during a panel discussion at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Army Summit. “We’re not replacing what we do. We have the cognitive skills to do what we need to do, but we need to do things faster, more efficiently — a 24/7 kind of thing. AI will help us kind of be more productive.”
Dr. Chai posited that AI should more or less function as an unseen system that operates in the background to support human users. Much like how GPS is easily accessible to smartphone users, AI should be something that’s put to use without much fuss to make daily tasks easier.
“If AI is just there to do some of the things, and you don’t really think about it, then it has done its job. I think those are the applications you want to call upon,” Chai explained.
Brandi Szczesny, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for research and technology SBIR and xTech portfolio liaison, agreed that in the AI conversation for U.S. military branches, perhaps too much emphasis is being placed upon the next generation of warfighting technology. In reality, human augmentation is one of the most promising use cases for AI within the defense landscape.
“When you hear about where most applicability is for AI within the Army, it is those cognitive balance tasks,” Szczesny said. “It is always going to be a human in the loop. And I know that’s one of the questions that we get frequently as well. There always has to be a human in the decision chain, but reducing the cognitive burden on that human for decision making capabilities is really where you see a lot of significant benefits.”
Large language models, or LLMs, are also demonstrating some promising capabilities, especially with the latest release of ChatGPT 4.0. Dr. Peter Beling, director of the Intelligent Systems Division at the Virginia Tech National Security Institute, said that the newest iteration of ChatGPT is now “natively in the verbal world” and can converse with people fluently, which could unlock a new world of cognitive support for human operators.
“It’s beginning to be able to explain things,” Dr. Beling said of the LLM. “Right now it can explain maybe a seventh grade math trigonometry problem. It won’t be long before it can begin to offer much more nuanced kinds of explanations. Maybe that’ll begin to actually cross the boundary into being either direct cognitive support or an educational and training tool.”
Still, looking toward the future of AI, there are certainly some flashier applications that could unlock immense potential across multiple industries, including defense. Dr. Beling predicted that embodied AI — things like self-driving cars and humanoid robots — could be potentially transformative as the technology continues to develop and improve.
Curious about how other service branches are harnessing the power of AI? Join the 2024 Air Defense Summit on July 23 to learn how Air Force leaders are approaching and deploying AI.
