Page 24 - Federal Computer Week, March/April 2019

Artificial Intelligence
Executive Viewpoint
A Conversation with
LT. GEN. JOHN SHANAHAN
LT. GEN. JOHN SHANAHAN
Director, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, Defense Department
The leader of a new AI- centric organization talks about how the technology can transform DOD
Why did the Defense Department decide to dedicate a center to AI efforts?
The mission of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center is to help transform DOD by accelerating the delivery and adoption of AI to achieve mission impact at scale — in other words, helping us move faster from research and development
to operational delivery of AI-enabled capabilities.
The objective is to use AI to enable solutions to problem sets that span multiple services and multiple domains. The goal
is also to build a common foundation that fosters decentralized development and experimentation by providing access to data repositories, reusable tools, models and standards, cloud and edge services, and so on.
What impact do you expect AI to have on the way the department operates?
AI will change the character of warfare. DOD needs to be ready for that future
by using AI to maintain our strategic competitive advantage. It’s important to note that this is not about developing AI for AI’s sake. Instead, it’s about finding AI-enabled solutions to any number of functions and missions across the department.
The department must harness the potential of AI to create a force fit for our time, thereby supporting and protecting
American service members, safeguarding our citizens, defending our allies and improving the affordability, effectiveness and speed of our operations.
How does AI help DOD achieve its goals?
AI will lead to an overall competitive military advantage. We are in the midst of a revolution driven by incredible amounts
of data, massive computer power and new algorithms developed by the best AI talent in the world. If we can harness the power that AI provides, we will be able to transform our valuable data into strategic advantage.
Additionally, America’s competitors
are making significant investments in AI
that threaten to erode the technical and operational advantages that the United States has held for the last 100 years and destabilize the free and open international order.
Could the center’s work become a model for civilian agencies?
The sensitivity and classification of some programs will necessarily require constraints on sharing. We will collaborate with our partners and stakeholders as appropriate
to work through those constraints. To the greatest extent possible, JAIC will encourage and facilitate the sharing of data and resources across programs — to the benefit of all programs, JAIC and the national interests.
As appropriate, the common foundation will host, manage and protect data sources made available to JAIC’s community of users.
In addition, the president recently signed an executive order on AI that directs more efforts to share data across the government and to facilitate research and development inside and outside government.
We are equally enthusiastic about taking advantage of AI success stories in other government agencies, academia and industry. Nobody has a monopoly on AI experience and expertise right now. Working toward common objectives and sharing our AI experiences and lessons learned will improve all of us.
This interview continues at Carah.io/Shanahan-DOD.
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