The Australian Department of Defence has conducted a multinational tech demonstration in New South Wales to evaluate artificial intelligence (AI) applications for warfighters.
Led by the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG), the Technical Cooperation Program AI Strategic Challenge was held to prepare Canberra’s military for the “rapid, safe, and ethical” employment of emerging AI solutions.
The event saw the participation of over 150 experts from the military science communities of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK, and the US.
Challenges presented for the AI platforms included object detection and identification, shared battlespace resources cooperation, situational awareness support for dismounted troops, and adversarial AI scenarios.
“The aim was to put AI solutions under stress in a representative operational environment and different mission scenarios to identify strengths and weaknesses in the technology, so that we can develop more resilient capabilities,” DSTG Experimentation Director Chris Shanahan stated.
Supporting Defense Objectives
Shanahan noted that each team displayed the responsible use of AI technology regarding “the legal and ethical aspects” of battlespace assessment throughout the demonstration.
Alongside defense scientists, the program involved military personnel from the Australian joint force to gain further knowledge of the AI’s utility and advance its transition to soldiers.
“The international, collaborative nature of the challenge meant that we are able to leverage coalition capabilities to progress Australian goals,” Shanahan said.
Establishing ‘Human-Machine Teams’
Data gathered from the challenge will be used to plan future AI adoption into Canberra’s mission systems.
“The tech must be reliable and trusted and comply with legal and ethical frameworks,” DSTG AI Program Leader Robert Hunjet explained.
“The [AI Strategic Challenge] brings together great minds from five nations to collectively look at issues such as performance under adversarial conditions, trust, and responsible AI to address these issues.”
“AI is here now. It’s time to leverage its efficiencies and build cohesive human-machine teams.”