Pentagon’s Joint AI Center (JAIC) Testing First Lethal AI Projects
The new acting director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), Nand Mulchandani, gave his first-ever Pentagon press conference on July 8, where he laid out what is ahead for the JAIC and how current projects are unfolding.
The press conference comes two years after Google pulled out of Project Maven, also known as the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team.
“We have had overwhelming support and interest from tech industry in working with the JAIC and the DoD,” Mulchandani said. “[we] have commercial contracts and work going on with all of the major tech and AI companies – including Google – and many others.”
Termed JAIC 2.0, the new plan includes six mission initiatives that are all underway, including joint warfighting operations, warfighter health, business process transformation, threat reduction and protection, joint logistics, and the newest one, joint information warfare. The latest addition includes cyber operations.
Here is how he responded:
“I don’t want to start straying into issues around autonomy and lethality versus lethal — or lethality itself. So yes, it is true that many of the products we work will go into weapon systems.”
“None of them right now are going to be autonomous weapon systems. We’re still governed by 3000.09, that principle still stays intact. None of the work or anything that General Shanahan may have mentioned crosses that line period.”
See the full story here: https://www.unite.ai/pentagons-joint-ai-center-jaic-testing-first-lethal-ai-projects/