Abstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can produce or create rapid technological advancement when applied to research; because of this, AI has been widely adopted across industries. This widespread adoption presents both an opportunity and a challenge to national security. The growing advancements in AI technology necessitate the need for research and focus on the ethical issues surrounding AI. AI represents an evident national security risk, demanding immediate policy attention from national leaders to prevent potential threats. This paper provides an overview of AI, explores its challenges as a national security concern, and outlines essential mitigation policies that national leaders should prioritize.
Introduction
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is characterized by its ability to mimic human-like intelligence and perform complex tasks. Recently AI has gained a significant spotlight and has rapidly advanced in the past year, revolutionizing technology and prompting ethical dilemmas surrounding the advanced technology. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have become "Buzz" words surrounding major industries. While AI offers immense opportunities for progress, it also presents unprecedented ethical challenges, necessitating effective governance and protection against potential security risks stemming from AI. Research focused on AI and its intended impacts is of paramount importance. In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, AI research significantly impacts U.S. National Security. Artificial Intelligence offers rapid advancements in many sectors and industries in the United States. However, due to the nature of its intelligence, AI poses an unprecedented ethical conundrum due to the potential security risks and challenges surrounding governing and protecting the United States from the massive capabilities and potentials stemming from AI.
Research in the field of AI provides valuable insights into the societal, economic, and security implications of AI, guiding policymakers, industry leaders, and researchers in making informed decisions and formulating effective regulations. By examining the intended impacts of AI, research contributes to the development of ethical frameworks, safeguards against misuse, and strategies to harness the transformative potential of AI while mitigating its potential risks. National security efforts must focus on mitigating AI threats, and technological development surrounding AI needs to be monitored and regulated.
AI Revolution in National Security
Cutting-edge technologies such as telecommunications or nuclear technologies have always prompted a discussion of ethics. Fully understanding the technologies leads to formulating the technology's ethical use and boundaries. In many regards, AI technology has defense applications used by the military. Research and the understanding of advanced technologies are imperative surrounding their use. Regrettably, AI possesses a significant level of risk, comparable to previous cases and potentially even more precarious due to the rapid pace of technological advancement and the complex interplay between government and industry (Allen & Chan, 2017). Many AI researchers have stated they do not fully understand how machine learning and the algorithms related to AI begin to perform deep learning, coining the phrase "black box." – this term means there is essentially a black hole in the knowledge. At some point, the models begin learning in a depth that the researchers do not understand the thought process of the deep learning systems.
"Black Box of AI"
AI research reaching this point of “black box,” questioning how AI directly works within a programed environment is a cutting-edge topic of discussion. AI has made notable changes and advancements to reach its current point of impact. AI will also continue to have broad impacts on society before relevant ethical problems arise stemming from its impacts (Amodei et al., 2016). A starting point worth noting is that in 2011 AI had one of its first victories as IBM’s Watson Won Jeopardy – which demonstrated the ability for AI to achieve natural language processing. AI’s abilities have continuously and rapidly changed over the past ten years to the most recent years. AI has revolutionized the national security landscape as it has impacted data analytics, surveillance, advanced fighting capabilities, and weaponry.
AI Dark Side – Ethics, Challenges, and Risk
One of the notable changes in AI is the unprecedented progress in data analytics. AI algorithms have become more sophisticated and efficient in processing vast amounts of structured and unstructured data, enabling organizations to extract valuable insights and patterns for decision-making. This has revolutionized intelligence analysis, enabling analysts to detect trends, identify potential threats, and make informed assessments more rapidly and accurately. AI has also evolved computer "vision" leading to significant advancements in surveillance capabilities. Advanced image and video analysis algorithms now allow for real-time object recognition, facial identification, and anomaly detection, enhancing the ability to monitor and secure critical infrastructure, borders, and public spaces. AI-powered surveillance systems have become increasingly intelligent and accurate, supporting security operations with actionable information and early warning mechanisms. AI’s advancement proves its progression in terms of having a mental state. AI is being programmed to solve challenges faster than human beings. This brings up the ethical obstacles we face with AI, consider this quote by AI researchers, "The prospect of AIs with superhuman intelligence and superhuman abilities presents us with the extraordinary challenge of stating an algorithm that outputs superethical behavior" (Bostrom & Yudkowsky, 2014).
AI has also had a major role in Autonomous systems, being applied to military surveillance, precision targeting, and autonomous decision-making. Unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned ground vehicles, and autonomous weapons systems are all examples of AI-enabled technologies that have transformed the landscape of modern warfare (Work, 2021). The cybersecurity domain has also experienced the impact of AI advancements—advanced threat detection and response systems, capable of identifying patterns of malicious activities, detecting anomalies, and responding in real-time to cyber threats is one of the positive impacts of AI. AI-powered cybersecurity tools play a critical role in safeguarding sensitive information, critical infrastructure, and networks from cyberattacks, providing a proactive defense against evolving threats. AI also proves to be an area of threat as malware developed with AI can actively rewrite its code to remain undetectable by malware detection software. The same AI technology being used to positively impact industry also has the capability to enable the malicious uses of AI as the technologies mature (Brundage et al., 2018). These advancements have revolutionized national security practices by providing more sophisticated and efficient tools for intelligence analysis, surveillance, military operations, and cyber defense, but have also challenged national defense to face the challenges of defending against the malicious use of AI.
Responsible AI: Recommendations on how to Approach AI
Integrating AI technology into various aspects of society brings forth multiple ethical challenges that must be addressed. These ethical challenges share similarities with the integration of cellular technology into everyday life. These challenges involve issues such as privacy, bias, transparency, and accountability. As AI systems become intertwined into industry and everyday life, ensuring ethical behavior and preventing unintended consequences, have become critical concerns surrounding AI. Recent studies have highlighted the potential dangers of autonomous weaponry, where AI-powered systems can make critical decisions in military contexts. However, trusting AI to do so without continuous human oversight is an ethical dilemma.
Researchers have been exploring autonomous AI technology and are calling for Human oversight, “Today, AI systems can launch attacks and defend against them, with little or no human intervention. A race to develop autonomous weapons could be even more dangerous than the nuclear arms race because barriers to entry are lower. Even small nations and non-state actors could exploit the technology to develop bespoke, disruptive capabilities" (Taddeo & Floridi, 2018). The development and deployment of such technologies raise questions about human oversight, the potential for unintended harm, and the need for robust safeguards to prevent misuse or abuse. In many industries, human oversight should be considered mandated to safeguard against the potential threats of AI itself and become an industry standard to protect against AI's unknowns. The "black box" nature of AI refers to the challenge of understanding how AI systems arrive at their decisions. Deep learning algorithms can process vast amounts of data and extract complex patterns, but the inner workings of these algorithms and their complexities are difficult to interpret or explain. This lack of understanding creates a lack of transparency surrounding AI and inevitably raises concerns about accountability, fairness, and potential biases embedded within AI systems. Research efforts are underway to develop explainable AI methods and techniques to shed light on the decision-making processes of AI systems.
These unknowns being researched, related to the "black box," are directly a national security concern. AI technologies could be exploited for malicious purposes, such as orchestrating cyberattacks, spreading disinformation, or disrupting critical infrastructure[... ELLIPSIZATION ...]d. "Understanding the centers of gravity and critical capabilities in a cyber context is essential for organizations to effectively identify and prioritize key assets and vulnerabilities" (Borg, 2009). Failing to identify CoGs inevitably will lead to failing to secure them. The identification leads to tactics such as vulnerability assessment for the specific assets, risk rating, and a contingency plan.