CST Week 3 Scrapbook

CST Week 3 Scrapbook

Link: https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2016-12-07

PDF: https://drive.google.com/a/csumb.edu/file/d/147ORAMckQeAHNQMj2gyWZ-VKQxv8Zc79/view?usp=sharing

Briefing PDF: https://drive.google.com/a/csumb.edu/file/d/1GioiOL9k8wcWsWHSOgC3d247T28IH2hR/view?usp=sharing

Summary

The article this week comes from the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, or DARPA. I have also attached the official briefing associated with this article. DARPA is a government agency that has been known to providing leading technical advancements for the U.S. military. It was published 12/7/2016. DARPA has been responsible for stealth technology and other advancements to the U.S. military. This article outlines a new initiative for DARPA called OFFSET. OFFSET stands for Offensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics.  From the article,

"OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics program seeks to empower dismounted troops with technology to control scores of unmanned air and ground vehicles at a time."

The article then goes on to say what the department is looking to achieve in the project. It would like to create an interface where users can monitor potentially 100s of unmanned vehicles in warfare acting autonomously and cohesively as a swarming unit. Essentially this would mean that a ground based soldier would act as a coach to this AI controlled swarm unit on a battlefield or urban warfare setting. The article then goes on to explain how the organization will utilize live testing every 6 months to demonstrate and challenge this new technology. The end of the article states that there will be an event where potential companies can submit their proposal to act as a contractor in developing this technology for DARPA.

Why it was Chosen

I chose this article because it has to do with the military using artificial intelligence to conduct warfare missions. I find Artificial Intelligence to be very fascinating and it is interesting to know that the U.S. government is openly publicising that they plan to use it for warfare implications in the future. I wonder if there have been any groups outspoken against the research in such technology. I know Elon Musk, CEO for Tesla, has openly warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence.

Ethical Implications

This new technology may take the ethical implications of drone warfare to a new level. There are those that argue that drones may be unethical as they make killing too easy and may lead to more civilian casualties. Without actual eyes on a target mistakes can be made. The idea of 100's of drones acting autonomously sounds like something you would see in a popular videogame known as Starcraft. Proponents for the U.S government would argue that this would make our country safer from our enemies and allow for an exponential edge over others. Others may argue that such a capability could be immensely dangerous. If the technology were to be somehow hacked or bugged, 100s of autonomous drones acting cohesively could do immense damage to an urban landscape. It does bring nightmares to think of such a scenario.

Credibility of Source

This source is 100% credible as it comes straight from darpa.mil. This is the official military website for DARPA. I am quite surprised that this was published openly on the internet.