Pentagon updates autonomous weapons policy to account for AI advances - C4ISRNET

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s argumentation store released updated guidelines for processing and operating autonomous weapons that incorporates the Defense Department’s imaginativeness for ethical artificial quality and requires further reviews for caller systems.

The Autonomy successful Weapon Systems argumentation directive was primitively issued successful 2012, mounting guidelines and responsibilities for developing, investigating and utilizing these systems. The department’s Director of Emerging Capabilities Policy Michael Horowitz told reporters successful a Jan. 25 telephone that aft a decade, the papers was owed for an update.

While describing the changes arsenic “relatively insignificant clarifications and refinements,” helium said they connection a level of transparency astir the department’s usage of autonomy and its processes for making definite the exertion is utilized responsibly.

“One of the biggest things that the papers present accounts for is the dramatic, expanded imaginativeness for the relation of artificial quality successful the aboriginal of the American military,” Horowitz said.

DoD is prioritizing AI investments, peculiarly successful airy of China’s extremity to beryllium the satellite person successful this country by 2030. The section released its Responsible Artificial Intelligence Strategy and Implementation Pathway model past summer, detailing its program to mitigate the effect of unintended consequences that could originate as AI plays a greater relation successful subject technologies. The papers focuses connected gathering spot betwixt quality decision-makers and AI systems.

Horowitz said the update ensures that DoD’s argumentation for processing systems that incorporated AI is aligned with that strategy and reflects the department’s committedness to processing liable systems. He noted that the update doesn’t prohibit definite autonomous capabilities, but alternatively dictates that caller systems acquisition a broad investigating and reappraisal process.

The update besides directs the instauration of an autonomous weapons strategy moving group. Chaired by the undersecretary of defence for policy, the radical volition counsel elder DoD leaders arsenic they see approving caller systems and service arsenic a assets if issues arise, Horowitz said.

“Our content is that the instauration of this moving radical volition facilitate the harmless and liable pursuit of autonomous limb systems,” helium said.