May 21, 2018
As AI Begins to Reshape Defense, Here’s How Europe Can Keep Up
Change comes hard in much of Europe, particularly in the defense community. But no less than in the United States, European nations are wrestling with the implications of machine learning and artificial intelligence — in the military as well as civilian society. During several trips to Europe in the last six months, we have noted a significant uptick in the number of NATOpolitical and military leaders discussing AI’s impact on the alliance’s military capability.
There seems to be a two-speed discussion going on. European defense industry officials we talked to had no qualms about harnessing AI to reduce manufacturing costs and improve customer satisfaction. But governments and institutions like NATOand the EU were having a harder time. Will AI’s impact on society — say, in data privacy — be feared and, hence, regulated? Can it be “purchased” for national defense or domestic use, and how much would this cost a tight-fisted government? Could it, perhaps, simply be ignored?
One problem we observed during our trips is that "AI” means different things to different people in Europe, just as it does in the U.S. During one of many dinners with journalists and business leaders in Brussels, it was variously described to us by the attendees as “hoovering up personal data” from across Europe or as the “secret sauce” or as “magic dust.” And while all agreed that harnessing it was not a simple matter of “buying three boxes of AI,” there was little consensus on how governments and institutions could or should integrate this new technology.
Read the Full Article at Defense One
More from CNAS
-
In Russia's Perceived War with the West, Arms Control is Collateral Damage
Russia seemingly perceives previously established arms control agreements as elements of the broader Western-dominated political and security order that it aims to overturn....
By Nicholas Lokker
-
Republicans Saved Democracy Once. Will They Do It Again?
Despite different political and historical contexts, the playbook these personalist leaders use to dismantle democracy has been identical....
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Joseph Wright & Erica Frantz
-
What's to Come in 2025
As we welcome the New Year, Brussels Sprouts is zooming out for a big-picture view of what to expect in 2025. Top of mind is the impact of a second Trump presidency on U.S. fo...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Trump 2.0 and the Return of ‘Court Politics’
Erica Frantz is a leading scholars on personalist regimes, in both their democratic and their authoritarian forms and the co-author, with Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Joseph Wrig...
By Erica Frantz & Andrea Kendall-Taylor