Pentagon turning to AI for military advantage
Under the Ministry of Defence's 'Third Offset', which aims to compensate a smaller military for larger technology, the US Secretary of Defense, Ashton B. Carter, has made a fourth visit to Silicon Valley while Deputy Secretary of Defence, Robert O. Work has emphasised the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) tech in creating new 'Iron Man" style fighters. It would appear however, young Silicon Valley executives have shown little interest in seeing their technology used for military purposes, questioning the difference between offensive and defensive uses of smart weapons. AI specialist at University of California, Berkeley, Stuart J Russell stated, "We need to figure out where to draw the line and we need to stay on the right side of it." Still, the Pentagon remains a key investor in the tech community, taking up the likes of self-automated vehicles, and Carter's doctorate in theoretical physics may help to initiate a successful alliance between the tech world and military defence.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — In its quest to maintain a United States military advantage, the Pentagon is aggressively turning to Silicon Valley’s hottest technology — artificial intelligence.

On Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter made his fourth trip to the tech industry’s heartland since being named to his post last year. Before that, it had been 20 years since a defense secretary had visited the area, he noted in a speech at a Defense Department research facility near Google’s headquarters.

The Pentagon’s intense interest in A.I. — and by connection the Silicon Valley companies specializing in that technology — has grown out of the “Third Offset” strategy articulated by Mr. Carter last fall. Concerned about the re-emergence of China and Russia as military competitors, he stated that computer-based, high-tech weapons would give the American military an edge in the future.

Third Offset is a reference to two earlier eras when Pentagon planners turned to technology to compensate for a smaller military. In the 1950s, President Eisenhower emphasized nuclear weapons as a deterrence to larger Warsaw Pact armies. A second “offset” occurred in the 1970s and ’80s when military planners turned to improved technology in conventional weapons to again compensate for smaller numbers.