A U.K.-commissioned report from RAND Europe has highlighted the need for a comprehensive action plan to address emerging risks and opportunities associated with the military use of artificial intelligence.
The technical report recommends that nations prioritize actions to enhance AI utilization and allow the military to take advantage of its benefits, limit access for non-state and terrorist actors, and create global, multilateral and bilateral governance frameworks for the emerging technology.
With the complex risks posed by AI on the defense and security landscape, the study advises that governments address the most pressing problems, including:
- the use of the technology to manipulate information,
- the empowerment of non-state actors, and
- the safety and security risks associated with the advancement of artificial general intelligence, a type of AI that matches or surpasses human cognition.
The Defence AI & Autonomy Unit of the U.K. Ministry of Defence and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office commissioned the RAND study in March to explore the impact of military AI and develop a conceptual framework that would map its strategic risks and opportunities.