Straight from the U.S. Air Force: America is behind, China is ahead.
Both Russia and China have stirred the pot throughout the Middle East, having America chase endless amounts of terrorists, all while losing sight on being prepared for a conventional war. Two decades of distractions have left America behind and extremely vulnerable.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. VeraLinn Jamieson, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Deputy Chief of Staff, talks about ISR’s future during an interview on Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, April 13, 2017. (U.S. Air Force photo/Laura R. McFarlane)
China’s massive investment in artificial intelligence technologies may soon leave the U.S. at a major disadvantage, a top Air Force general said Thursday.
“Speed is of the essence in the digital age,” said Lt. Gen. VeraLinn “Dash” Jamieson, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance on the Air Staff at the Pentagon.
She painted a grim picture: While “great instigator” Russia has the desire to do ambitious experiments with A.I., China already has the means.
For example, China is building several digital artificial intelligence cities in a military-civilian partnership to understand how A.I. will be propagated as it strives to become the global leader in technology. The cities track human movement through artificial facial recognition software, watching citizens’ every move as they go about their day.
“We estimate the total spending on artificial intelligence systems in China in 2017 was $12 billion. We also estimate that it will grow to at least $70 billion by 2020,” Jamieson said during an Air Force Association breakfast Thursday.
“Go compare what we’re spending to what China is spending,” she added.
The Pentagon — with each military service pursuing AI to varying degrees — is still spending hundreds of millions on the effort.
According to independent research group Govini, the Pentagon spent roughly $7.4 billion on emerging technologies in fiscal 2017. While A.I. accounted for roughly 33 percent of that total, the spending also includes quantum computing and big data analysis, as well as other information technology.
Because the Air Force has been heavily entrenched in the counterterrorism effort for the past two decades, “We did not look across the entire spectrum to build and think and develop a high-end fight that we believe we are facing today,” Jamieson said. “Our [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] enterprise today is not postured to meet these challenges with the intent laid out in the National Defense Strategy.”
Full article: China Leaving US Behind on Artificial Intelligence: Air Force General (DefenseTech)
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