The 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes a focus on the continued development of military artificial intelligence, which could be critical in the continued competition with China.
“I think there are two important areas in the NDAA that represent a major strategic direction for the United States. One is that in the Cold War that we are in now, China is in the physical and cognitive realm of conflict. “AI and protecting it is an important part of that strategic calculation,” Christopher Alexander, chief analytics officer at Pioneer Development Group, told Fox News.・Told Digital.
Alexander's comments came after President Biden last month signed the Defense Department spending bill, an annual “must-pass” bill that sets out U.S. military spending.
What is artificial intelligence (AI)?
President Biden signed the Pentagon spending bill last month. (Joe Radle/Getty Images)
In their 2024 spending plan, lawmakers made clear the importance of continued AI development for national defense. Perhaps most importantly, the bill creates a new Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Governing Council for the military, charged with oversight and responsible development of AI technologies for military use.
The new level of surveillance is a promising development for some experts, who noted that the continued development of AI could present many unknown dangers.
John Schweppe, policy director for the American Principles Project, told FOX News Digital that Congress is taking the AI revolution seriously by creating a new oversight role for the Department of Defense. That's a good thing.” “This is a first step, and clearly more work will be needed in the coming months to ensure the necessary guardrails are in place to prevent the ‘AI runaway’ problem.”
Given Havens, director of policy at the Bull Moose Project, echoed similar sentiments, saying that as the U.S. seeks to balance security with leadership in the AI race, this year's NDAA includes It contains 149 references.”
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“The most urgent need is the creation of a Digital and Artificial Intelligence Chief Executive Governing Council,” Havens told Fox News Digital. “It is paramount that the United States maintains its global leadership in AI, but it must be done responsibly.”
In addition to creating new oversight mechanisms, the 2024 NDAA also establishes new AI initiatives for the Department of Defense, including requiring the Secretary of Defense to develop a strategic plan for the development and use of AI for defense. It also includes the requirement to create one.
The 2024 NDAA represents a new AI initiative for the Department of Defense, which includes strategic planning requirements for the development and use of AI for defense. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)
But the increased attention to AI comes at a time of growing concerns about the technology's safety, which Biden aims to address with executive action in 2023.
“The government is in a precarious situation with artificial intelligence. On the one hand, we can't afford to slow down, especially when it comes to defense. On the other hand, as we saw with President Biden's recent executive orders, the government is in a precarious position. “It's hard for people to develop the technology that allows the defense industry to thrive in the first place,” Samuel Mangold Rennett, staff editor at The Federalist, told Fox News Digital. “There are also questions about what the current administrative structure considers to be ‘ethical use’ or ‘data-based diplomacy’, which is itself dangerous. “We can't postpone machine learning for things that matter. It's good to see governments taking the defense capabilities of AI more seriously.”
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This year's NDAA seeks to address such concerns with formal oversight, but it also prevents the United States from racing toward autonomous weapons that could tilt the battlefield in future conflicts with rivals such as China. The company has made it clear that it will continue to promote recent military developments in AI, including .
One weapon that has been in development since 2016 is the XQ-58A Valkyrie experimental aircraft, an AI-operated stealth platform. The Pentagon hopes the aircraft, which made its first test flight in 2019, could provide an inexpensive weapon that could limit pilot losses and protect manned aircraft in flight.
An XQ-58A Valkyrie demonstrates separation of the ALTIUS-600 small unmanned aircraft system during a test at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, March 26, 2021. (Courtesy: U.S. Air Force)
For Alexander, continued development of such systems will be key if the United States wants to maintain its military advantage over China.
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“The greatest deterrent the United States has other than nuclear weapons is the ability to wage war.'' [prohibitively] “Autonomous vehicles essentially flip the scenario for adversaries, giving the United States an asymmetric advantage as cheaper drones and other capabilities are equally effective against much more expensive manned platforms,” Alexander said. It gives you sex,” he said.
