April 26, 2019, I was asked to present how Artificial Intelligence can help the Battlefield at the officers of the 11th Airmobile Brigade (11e Luchtmobiele brigade in Dutch) of the Dutch forces . The potential benefit of Artificial Intelligence on the battlefield is a very interesting, but also intriguing topic! Here you can find my slides. I also have written a blog on this topic which contains several additional references and can be found as a LinkedIn Article and as blog on www.textmining.nu.
How can Artificial Intelligence help me on the Battlefield?
1. Artificial Intelligence:
How can AI help me on the battlefield?
Prof dr ir Jan C. Scholtes
11th Airmobile Brigade
The Netherlands
Officers Day, April 26, 2019
6. 6
Near Future: huge government
investments in AI worldwide
Source: https://www.cifar.ca/cifarnews/2018/12/06/building-an-ai-world-report-on-
national-and-regional-ai-strategies
7. 7
AI was Born on the Battlefield
• Alan Turing Enigma
(1942)
• TCP/IP (the internet)
(1983)
• Closed in Weapon
Systems (Phalanx)
(1973)
• Defensive Autonomous
Weapons (Patriot, C-
RAM) (1984-2006)
• Tomahawk and JDAM
(1991-1997)
8. 8
Future Role of AI on the Battlefield
Intelligent Agents will be Targets,
but they can also be used as
Perpetrators or Defenders
10. 10
Advanced Targeting and Lethality
Automated System (ATLAS)
In February 2019, the
U.S. Army asked
experts for ideas on
how to build a system
that would allow
tanks and other
ground-combat
vehicles to quickly
and automatically
“acquire, identify, and
engage” targets.
16. The question of whether a computer can
think is no more interesting than the
question of whether a submarine can
swim.- Edsger Dijkstra
17. 17
AI solves problems differently than
humans …
Computers have different skillset than humans. They excel in:
• Infinite speed & memory
• 24/7 availability
• Scalability
A computer program can try something 100 millions of times in a
fraction of the time humans in order to fine tune all parameters to
find an optimal solution.
Computer programs can use data structures representing 100
millions of features to find patterns and solve problems.
AI approaches language, vision, listening, and movement different than humans.
19. 19
What is an Autonomous Agent
• An autonomous agent
is an intelligent agent
operating on an owner's
behalf but without any
interference of that
ownership entity.
• Can be a computer
program but also a
robot, vehicle, drone or
vessel.
20. 20
• 1997: Brute force
computer power
• No intuition or
creativity
Why is Artificial Intelligence Suddenly so Good??
23. 23
The development of AI
Brute force computer
power (evaluate 200
million positions per
second!). Algorithms
explicitly programmed
by check experts.
Massive information
retrieval (four
terabytes of
information). Little
learning or reasoning.
Based on (deep)
machine-learning.
Started with games
from professional
players. Learned
further from playing
30 million games
against itself.
37. 37
The Singularity is Near (2005)
The Singularity is Near, Ray Kurzweil defines singularity as a time period
in which technology growth (exponential) is at a such a pace that it blurs
the distinct lines between nature and technology. The singularity is when
technology merges with and overtakes biology and the human brain.
Our intelligence becomes super powerful, evolving into a non-biological
entity with the extraordinary processing power of machines. This merge is
the core of singularity. Kurzweil believes it will be in 2045.
38.
39. 39
• AI Agents learn by using
imitation and reinforcement
learning (like AlphaGo).
• Create more realistic
enemies.
40. 40
Computers are ruthless… fruit picking game
• Google’s AI got “highly
aggressive” when
competition got stressful in
a fruit-picking game.
• Shoot other players at
beginning of game.
44. 44
The Strength and Weakness of AI
Strengths
Skills
Memory
Speed
Force
Vision
Sensory
Weakness
Judgement
Knowledge
Dealing with
uncertainty
and
unexpected
behavior
Creativity
45. 45
Battlefield Challenges we have not Solved yet …
• “No plan survives
first contact with
enemy”
• Dinky, Dirty,
Dynamic and
Deceptive Data*
• Computers break
down, have bugs,
malfunction, need
repair, maintenance
and energy.
• Malware, viruses,
electro-magnetical
interference, …
46. 46
AI on the Battlefield: where are we?
• Sensor fusion for reconnaissance &
intelligence
• Simulations & training
• Planning
• Exo-skeletons
• Medical & Logistical support
• Guided weapons
• Precision targeting
• Missile defense
• Cyber security
• Omnipresent and Omniscient
autonomous vehicles, vessels or
drones
• Autonomous intelligence and
reconnaissance missions
• Automatically “acquire, identify, and
engage” targets
• Strategic decisions: big-data-driven
modeling, simulation, and war
gaming
• AI guided cyber attacks
• …
Now Future
47. 47
How about Policy Rules?
• The human in the
loop: robot selects,
human shoots.
• The human on the
loop: activated and
goes. Cancel button.
• The human off the
loop: mines.
How about robot
beyond the loop when
agents developing their
own policy rules. Then
we can either end up
with a Skynet or War
Games scenario. Should
be avoided at all times!
1. A robot may not injure a human being or,
through inaction, allow a human being to
come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given it by
human beings except where such orders
would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as
long as such protection does not conflict
with the First or Second Law.
48. 48
The Campaign to Stop Killer
Robots, a coalition of non-
governmental organizations
working to ban autonomous
weapons and maintain
“meaningful human control over
the use of force”.
Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CO6M2HsoIA&feat
ure=youtu.be
In 2017, Stuart Russell showed a dystopian future
brought on by autonomous military weaponry that
activists say would “decide who lives and dies, without
further human intervention, which crosses a moral
threshold.”
