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1 1 (November 30, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdcrs0001 and id is 1 raw text is: %Fnw C~l rES .rh$e Updated November 30, 2020 Defense Primer: Emerging Technologies Both the 2018 National Defense Strategy and senior U.S. Defense's (DOD's) Chief Information Officer. In addition, defense and intelligence officials have identified a number the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 115- of emerging technologies that could have a disruptive 232, §1051) established a National Security Commission on impact on U.S. national security in the years to come. These Artificial Intelligence to assess U.S. competitiveness in Al technologies include and offer recommendations to Congress. * artificial intelligence, ethas Astsno s Weapons * lethal autonomous weapons, Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) are a class of weapon systems capable of independently identifying a * hypersonic weapons, target and employing an onboard weapon system to engage * directed-energy weapons, and destroy the target without manual human control. LAWS require computer algorithms and sensor suites to * biotechnology, and classify an object as hostile, make an engagement decision, * quantum technology. and guide a weapon to the target. This capability would enable the system to operate in communications-degraded As these technologies continue to mature, they could hold or -denied environments where traditional systems may not significant implications for congressional oversight, U.S. be able to operate. defense authorizations and appropriations, military concepts of operations, and the future of war. LAWS are not yet in widespread development, and some senior military and defense leaders have expressed concerns about the ethics of ever fielding such systems. For example, Although there is no official U.S. government definition of in 2017 testimony before the Senate Armed Services artificial intelligence (AI), Al generally refers to a computer Committee, then-Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff system capable of human-level cognition. Al is currently General Paul Selva stated, I do not think it is reasonable being incorporated into a number of military applications, for us to put robots in charge of whether or not we take a including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; human life. Currently, there are no domestic or logistics; cyber operations; command and control; and international legal prohibitions on the development of semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles. As it develops, LAWS; however, an international group of government Al could enable new concepts of operations, such as experts has begun to discuss the issue. Approximately 30 swarming (i.e., cooperative behavior in which uninhabited countries have called for a preemptive ban on the systems vehicles autonomously coordinate to achieve a task), that due to ethical considerations, while others have called for could present both challenges and opportunities for the U.S. formal regulation or guidelines for development and use. military. DOD Directive 3000.09 establishes department guidelines for the development and fielding of LAWS to ensure that Recent news reports and analyses have highlighted the role they comply with the law of war, applicable treaties, of Al in enabling increasingly realistic photo, audio, and weapon system safety rules, and applicable rules of video digital forgeries, popularly known as deep fakes. engagement. Adversaries could potentially deploy this Al capability as part of their information operations in a gray zone y conflict. Deep fake technology could be used against the Hypersonic weapons-which fly at speeds of at least Mach United States and its allies to generate false news reports, 5 -are in development in a number of countries, including influence public discourse, erode public trust, and attempt the United States. There are two categories of hypersonic to blackmail diplomats. Some have suggested that Al could weapons: be used to create full digital patterns-of-life, in which an individual's digital footprint is mapped against other * Hypersonic glide vehicles (HGV) are launched from a personal information, such as spending habits and job rocket before gliding to a target. (When HGVs are history, to create comprehensive behavioral profiles of mated with their rocket booster, the resulting weapon servicemembers, suspected intelligence officers, system is often referred to as a hypersonic boost-glide government officials, and private citizens. Similar to deep weapon.) fakes, this information could, in turn, be used for targeted influence operations or blackmail. * Hypersonic cruise missiles (HCM) are powered by high-speed engines throughout the duration of their To coordinate defense-wide AI efforts, the Pentagon flight. established the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC, pronounced jake) in June 2018 under the Department of \\\\'\\ \ \N \ \I \N,\ \\ \ \ Q\\ \\\ \\\

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