Advertisement

Pentagon adopts new ethical principles for using AI in war

  • The new principles call for people to “exercise appropriate levels of judgment and care” when deploying and using AI systems
  • The new US principles are meant to guide both combat and non-combat applications

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
The Pentagon is seen in this aerial photo from the Air Force One in Washington, DC, U.S., March 29, 2018. Photo: Reuters

The Pentagon is adopting new ethical principles as it prepares to accelerate its use of artificial intelligence technology on the battlefield.

The new principles call for people to “exercise appropriate levels of judgment and care” when deploying and using AI systems, such as those that scan aerial imagery to look for targets.

They also say decisions made by automated systems should be “traceable” and “governable,” which means “there has to be a way to disengage or deactivate” them if they are demonstrating unintended behaviour, said Air Force Lieutenant General Jack Shanahan, director of the Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center.

The Pentagon’s push to speed up its AI capabilities has fuelled a fight between tech companies over a US$10 billion cloud computing contract known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI. Microsoft won the contract in October but has not been able to get started on the 10-year project because Amazon sued the Pentagon, arguing that President Donald Trump’s antipathy toward Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos hurt the company’s chances at winning the bid.

An existing 2012 military directive requires humans to be in control of automated weapons but does not address broader uses of AI. The new US principles are meant to guide both combat and non-combat applications, from intelligence-gathering and surveillance operations to predicting maintenance problems in planes or ships.

The approach outlined Monday follows recommendations made last year by the Defense Innovation Board, a group led by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
Advertisement