Streamlining multiple targeting sensors to destroy long-range targets, arming forward- positioned robots to penetrate enemy defenses and receiving organized weather-specific terrain mapping from nearby drones - are all emerging combat dynamics increasingly made possible by AI-enabled weapons and technologies. New applications of AI are consolidating data from otherwise disparate sensor systems, analyzing seemingly limitless amounts of targeting data in seconds and instantly sifting through hours of drone video to massively improve attack options and shorten "sensor-to-shooter" time. "We are developing an AI stack regarding how we pull together the sensors, computing layer and analytics to manage the data," Col. Doug Matty, Army AI Task Force Deputy Director, told Warrior in an interview. New algorithms, AI-enabled computer processing and high-speed networking are all specific elements of work now underway with the Army's AI Task Force, an emerging Army effort to collaborate with industry and academia, find technology breakthroughs and develop new applications for AI, Matty explained. The Task Force is now working on prototyping systems for integration onto UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, Long-Range Precision Fires systems and the Army's emerging fleet of Next-Gen Combat Vehicles, he said.

File photo - U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment watch as CH-47 Chinook helicopter from the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade lands after an advising mission at the Afghan National Army headquarters for the 203rd Corps in the Paktia province of Afghanistan December 21, 2014. Warrior Maven: What is the primary purpose of the Army's AI Task Force? Matty: The Army AI Task Force was established with a Secretary of the Army directive in October of 2018. There are four thrusts or top initiatives from the Secretary's directive. One component is we are leveraging AI to help our talent management in human resources.

The Army's Artificial Intelligence Task Force, with headquarters in the heart of the Rust Belt, is a crucial component of a grand Pentagon plan to incorporate robots and machine learning into 21st-century warfare. For skeptics, the task force is the concrete embodiment of how the U.S. is headed down a rocky, uncertain road that could put humanity itself in danger. The raging debate over AI, including its implications for the human race and the morality of its use in warfare, has divided the U.S. from some traditional allies. It also is fueling a growing band of activists who warn that "killer robots" are on the horizon of a military that has no comprehensive plan to stop them or understand their implications. Deep, philosophical questions about the ramifications of AI technology -- who is responsible for writing ethical guidelines, to what extent must humans remain in the loop, how much easier is it to fight a war fought (initially) by machines, and who bears the blame if a robot or drone ultimately targets humans -- are just beginning to be confronted in a systematic way.

The Lynx Infantry Fighting Vehicle - file photo. Streamlining multiple targeting sensors to destroy long-range targets, arming forward-positioned robots to penetrate enemy defenses and receiving organized weather-specific terrain mapping from nearby drones - are all emerging combat dynamics increasingly made possible by AI-enabled weapons and technologies. New applications of AI are consolidating data from otherwise disparate sensor systems, analyzing seemingly limitless amounts of targeting data in seconds and instantly sifting through hours of drone video to massively improve attack options and shorten "sensor-to-shooter" time. "We are developing an AI stack regarding how we pull together the sensors, computing layer and analytics to manage the data," Col. Doug Matty, Army AI Task Force Deputy Director, told Warrior in an interview. New algorithms, AI-enabled computer processing and high-speed networking are all specific elements of work now underway with the Army's AI Task Force, an emerging Army effort to collaborate with industry and academia, find technology breakthroughs and develop new applications for AI, Matty explained.

A key piece of the Pentagon's plan to beat China and Russia in the high-stakes artificial intelligence race lies inside a research facility along the Allegheny River here, where a small but select U.S. Army team has been tasked with creating the weapons, vehicles and sensors needed for 21st-century combat. Inside, the U.S. military is feverishly working to incorporate AI into its operations in a myriad of ways, including drones and robots to ferry wounded soldiers away from the battlefield, software that can spot a hidden enemy force over a hill, AI programs that can give generals and line soldiers a fuller picture of a confusing battle, and even algorithms that can outperform any resume in determining the right men and women for a specific job. Those projects, and a host of others, form the backbone of a major Pentagon initiative that carries far-reaching implications for the 21st century global balance of power. The Army's AI Task Force, created earlier this year as part of the Defense Department's broader effort to turn what was once science fiction into reality, has brought together military officials and academic leaders at Carnegie Mellon University, an institution considered to be the birthplace of AI research. Tucked in a spot more than two miles off the main campus that is unlikely to be found unless one knew where to look, the school's National Robotics Engineering Center serves as the epicenter of a partnership between the Army and academia.

The U.S. Army is developing data surveillance and analysis technology in Pittsburgh, though an offshoot of the controversial Department of Defense initiative Project Maven within Carnegie Mellon University's Army AI Task Force. CMU's involvement comes after the project made headlines last year when Google employees signed a petition en masse to cease work on the initiative. The project, the second undertaken by the Task Force, is seeking to develop an algorithm to analyze drone, overhead, and ground data to identify targets and objects of interest. The military does so much reconnaissance that human analysts simply can't keep up. Their image and sensor networks generate tons of data daily, which the Department of Defense says necessitates the use of artificial intelligence to do effective analysis.

Automated recognition and talent management are on the list of the US Army's AI Task Force, as a result of its year-long collaboration with the Carnegie Mellon University on incorporating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into US Army systems. The task force's access to sensors, different types of electro-mechanical devices, and computing capabilities are enabling them to create AI for other applications as per the plan in the 2018 directive, which states, "The Army is establishing the Army-AI Task Force (A-AI TF) that will narrow an existing AI capability gap by leveraging current technological applications to enhance our warfighters, preserve peace, and, if required, fight to win." Five university staffers at National Robotics Engineering Center, an integral part of CMU's Robotics Institute, have formed an AI Hub to work directly with the Army task force. The task force is starting to fill gaps in its systems with AI. In March, the US Army invested US$72 million in a five-year AI fundamental research effort to research and discover capabilities for augmenting military personnel, optimizing operations, increasing readiness, and reducing casualties. According to the Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory, which is the US Army's corporate laboratory (ARL), in March, CMU will lead a consortium of multiple universities to work in collaboration with the Army lab to accelerate R&D of advanced algorithms, autonomy and AI to enhance national security and defense.

Versium on Tuesday announced a partnership with LiveRamp, an Axiom company, to launch artificial intelligence-powered B2B audience segments,as part of a new business-to-business data management platform. The partnership will let companies perform online targeting of offline business professional data that often is housed within their own CRM systems. LiveRamp customers will get access to Versium's modeling engine to create custom audiences optimized for their likelihood of engagement. Versium will also offer unique business and consumer audiences built from its extensive LifeData Warehouse, which contains more than 1.5 trillion proprietary consumer and business professional behavioral data attributes, including social-graphic details, real-time event-based data, purchase interests, financial information, activities, skills and demographics. When those attributes are matched to an enterprise's internal data and used in Versium's machine learning models, clients improve customer acquisition, retention and cross-sell and upsell marketing activities, the company said.

Pretend you work in the marketing department of an online university. You have a list of hundreds of thousands of potential students that you could target with the school's next direct mail campaign, but know the majority won't respond. Constrained by a limited budget, you need to show results. How do you choose your targets, and how many flyers can you send – at great expense – before you risk losing money? That was the dilemma faced by a client of Redmond, Washington-based data technology services firm Versium Analytics Inc., which answered with a question of its own: what if, within hours, we could build a customized predictive model for you, use this model to score to each of your potential targets, rank them in descending order, and prove that 80 per cent of your future students would be among the top 20 per cent, and that only two per cent would be among the bottom 40 per cent?