AI and special forces

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
We know all about the special forces, but are special
forces now using AI? Well, let's take a look. Intelligence
Surveillance and reconnaissance is where one of the areas that
soft units are using AI. Soft forces can now ingest
far larger volumes of sensor data, drone satellite signals, and

(00:22):
open source and they use AI machine learning to highlight patterns,
objects of interests, and anomalies. For an example, integrating captured laptops,
cell phones, translation analysis of foreign language data, and social
media information flows. It helps for faster decision cycles. One
actually noted that soft can be emboldened by AI for

(00:42):
faster intel collection or improved supply systems. It's even helping
in non tactical domains like budgeting administrative processing. For example,
a senior SOFT leaders at AI tools are being used
to integrate data across databases and generate courses of action
for budgeting and resource allocation. Another one is soft commands

(01:03):
are explicitly requesting module AI, mL enabled autonomy and unmanned
robotic systems. These systems can provide persistence surveillance, remote sensing,
or even remote action support and hazardous scenarios, thereby reducing
the risks to the operators. Another thing is AI is driven.
Simulation and synthetic training environments enable soft chains soft teams

(01:25):
to train scenarios at scale, including rare, high risk events,
decision aids, and for getting integrating data for commanders, offering
courses of action, suggestions, and helping crews and teams premiere.
But it's not all rosy in the world of AI
and soft While there are advantages, there are significant caveats.

(01:46):
AI systems often perform well under known conditions, but in
the chaotic, dynamic, ambiguous world of special ops this can
fail or misclassify. One article wrote warned of a fragility
trap when AI is used in command and control role. Also,
dependence on AI can erode human operator vigilance or judgment.
Using AI to infer, targeting or influence operations also raises

(02:09):
moral and legal questions, adversary use and escalations, and other
problem The same or similar AI tools can now be
used against them, making the environment more complex and contested.
AI performances also hinges on good data, data's bias and
completer compromise, and the AI's outputs can mislead. Integration of

(02:30):
AI tools into legacy systems ensuring interoperatability, security of inputs
remains a challenge, especially in soft environments where equipments distributed.
There's an article that came out called Senior Special Ops
Leader highlights AI's usefulness beyond the battlefield and reports that
at us SOCK, the US Special Operations Command, the team

(02:54):
integrated data from multiple databases and use generative AI to
propose budget and resource decisions. In another article you used
that talked about soft as using AI for intelligence collecting,
scanning and things that we mentioned a minute ago. For
soft units to truly benefit from AI and mitigate harm,
they need to keep in mind that human in the

(03:15):
loop and human on the loop. AI should assist, but
human judgment remains central. Data hygiene, security, and ethics are
going to be important training and mindset as well as
adversary of dynamics and second order effects. So AI is
also coming into the world of special forces idle look.
Next time, we'll look at maybe AI and robotics and

(03:35):
how that could play a role in the world of
special forces.