AI Ecosystem Needed to Enhance Security.

AuthorTadjdeh, Yasmin
PositionAlgorithmic Warfare

For artificial intelligence to reach its full potential, both industry and government will need to foster an "AI ecosystem," a new study found.

Commercial and public sector investment in the field has rapidly grown for nearly a decade, but that growth is concealing important realities about the technology, according to a new Center for Strategic and International Studies report titled, "Artificial Intelligence and National Security: The Importance of the AI Ecosystem." Namely that the technology is still in an early stage and faces dilemmas that could serve as hurdles to future adoption and maturation.

"Enthusiasm in both the public and private sectors has obscured the importance of building the robust supporting capabilities for AI--an AI ecosystem--that are crucial to successful AI adoption," the report said. That would include a skilled workforce and knowledgeable management; the digital capability for capturing, handling and exploiting data; the technical foundation of trust, security and reliability; and a better investment environment and policy framework.

Artificial intelligence spending began to see rapid growth in 2010, and ramped up even further starting in 2012, said Andrew Hunter--director of CSIS' defense-industrial initiatives group--who co-authored the paper with fellow CSIS researchers Lindsey R. Sheppard, Robert Karlen and Leonardo Balieiro.

In 2016, private companies invested $26 billion to $39 billion in AI technologies, he noted. Likewise, the government spent annually an average of $4.5 billion per year from 2016 through 2018, he added.

"There's a lot of money going into this," he said during an event where the paper was unveiled.

The report noted that the Air Force, Army and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency are by far the largest spenders for artificial intelligence within the Defense Department.

However, despite these large investments, more focus is needed for the AI ecosystem to flourish, particularly as it relates to the government side, the report said.

"Public sector investment in AI must include several critical elements," the report said. "In addition to investing in the technologies necessary for foundational basic research and for adapting AI tech to government needs, systemic investments ... are required to ensure that the government has the underlying digital capability to utilize AI. The reality is that this digital capability is underdeveloped or lacking in large parts of government...

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