How AI can help defense organizations become smarter, simpler and stronger

A rtificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most disruptive technologies of our generation. Media coverage of this disruption tends to focus on the more contentious ways in which organizations could use AI to get ahead. International concern has strengthened this focus: in July 2018, more than 2,000 researchers from 36 countries signed a pledge not to develop lethal autonomous weapons. In the same year, Google instigated a ban on developing AI software that could be used to make weapons. The move came after several employees resigned over the company's contract with the US Department of Defense to analyze remotely piloted aircraft videos. But this attention on autonomous weapons detracts from the main benefit AI brings to defense organizations: the ability to analyze data too vast for humans.