Introduction

For the military, capabilities in the field matter most, not R&D. So, when it comes to artificial intelligence, the Defense Department has been moving quickly by standing up a special team, like a startup enterprise. Its first pilot project, “Project Maven,” began as an intelligence application. Now the push is on to apply it in other areas. Rob and Jackie sat down with retired Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, the first director of the Defense Department’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC), to discuss how AI is being used in the defense world and the implications for the broader AI ecosystem. 

Mentioned

• Daniel Castro, Michael McLaughlin, “Who Is Winning the AI Race: China, the EU, or the United States? — 2021 Update” (Center for Data Innovation, 2021).
• Rob Atkinson, Jackie Whisman, “Podcast: Innovating in the Defense Sector to Remain Competitive With China, Featuring Michael Brown” (ITIF, 2021).

Related

• Event, “How to Deepen Transatlantic Cooperation in AI for Defense” (CDI, 2021).
• Rob Atkinson, “Emerging Defense Technologies Need Funding to Cross ‘The Valley of Death’” (RealClear Defense, 2020).
• ITIF, “ITIF Technology Explainer: What Is Artificial Intelligence?” (ITIF, 2018).