The DOD Is going to integrate AI into the military, and it will be used for combat

The Pentagon's 2023 Data, Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Adoption Strategy builds upon years of DOD leadership in the development of AI and further solidifies the United States' competitive advantage in fielding the emerging technology, defense officials said.

"As we focused on integrating AI into our operations responsibly and at speed, our main reason for doing so has been straight forward: because it improves our decision advantage," Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said while unveiling the strategy at the Pentagon.

"From the standpoint of deterring and defending against aggression, AI-enabled systems can help accelerate the speed of commanders' decisions and improve the quality and accuracy of those decisions, which can be decisive in deterring a fight and winning in a fight," she said.

The latest blueprint, which was developed by the Chief Digital and AI Office, builds upon and supersedes the 2018 DOD AI Strategy and revised DOD Data Strategy, published in 2020, which have laid the groundwork for the department's approach to fielding AI-enabled capabilities.

The new document aims to provide a foundation from which the DOD can continue to leverage emerging AI capabilities well into the future.

"Technologies evolve. Things are going to change next week, next year, next decade. And what wins today might not win tomorrow," said DOD Chief Digital and AI Officer Craig Martell.

"Rather than identify a handful of AI-enabled warfighting capabilities that will beat our adversaries, our strategy outlines the approach to strengthening the organizational environment within which our people can continuously deploy data analytics and AI capabilities for enduring decision advantage," he said.

The strategy prescribes an agile approach to AI development and application, emphasizing speed of delivery and adoption at scale leading to five specific decision advantage outcomes:

Superior battlespace awareness and understanding

Adaptive force planning and application

Fast, precise and resilient kill chains

for our nation."