Page 43 - Federal Computer Week, May/June 2019

FCWQ&A
Can battlefield drones
spot threats to troops?
Army Lt. Col. Philip Root, acting deputy director of DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, explains DOD’s plans to forever change the human/machine relationship
BY LAUREN C. WILLIAMS
The Defense Department is rapidly and unabashedly integrating artificial intelligence into its ecosystem, from the back office to
the battlefield. But public scrutiny of human interactions with AI-enhanced machines is putting increasing pressure on such projects.
Enter the Urban Reconnaissance through Supervised Autonomy program, which seeks to weave legal, moral and ethical concerns into the fabric of its sensor, AI and drone technology so that warfighters can distinguish between threats and noncombatants.
DARPA is working with four companies during URSA’s first phase: Draper Laboratory, Scientific Systems Co., SRI International and Soar Technology. Contracts were awarded
to the companies in December and January for a combined $22.6 million, according to a broad agency announcement.
FCW recently spoke with Army Lt. Col. Philip Root, acting deputy director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Tactical Technology Office, to get an update on how DOD plans to forge more complex relationships between humans and machines. This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
What is the goal for URSA?
URSA, which just started Phase 1 this
year with four performers, takes a dif-
ferent look at the vexing problem of
discriminating hostile and non-hostile
[individuals] in urban operations. We
want to provide more awareness so
when a soldier or Marine encounters an
individual...they have more informa-
tion about that individual’s intentions as he comes into view.
It may seem crazy to aspire to have that level of discrimi- nation, but at traffic control points, we do the same thing. For example, with a van speeding toward a traffic control point at 55 mph, soldiers have 15 seconds from the time they see that van to the time it could explode. So in 15 seconds, a soldier has to identify whether that’s a van full of explosives or a van full of kids.
How do they do that?
It’s amazing, right? From the outside, it’s the same. We have to get inside the driver’s head to understand intent. We do that by putting signs out, [such as] a stop sign. If they speed by the stop sign, that’s information. So we’re putting out a sign, a probe, to tell the target, someone we’re watching,
to stop. And then we give them another sign — send out a flare or fire warning shots depending on the rules of engage- ment — to insert a message. And how they respond is more information.
A van full of kids that blows through that stop sign doesn’t mean they are a target. If they blow by several, it doesn’t mean they are a target. But at some point, we say, “You’ve failed a number of tests here.”
You can look at URSA as finding targets, but I don’t like that view. I prefer the view of ensuring that noncombatants can get out of this scene, a van full of soccer kids turns around. Fantastic! We don’t want you around; we want to give you awareness that this isn’t a good day to be outside.
So as a military patrol is moving through a city, we’d love
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