Articles of Interest - Week 11/11 - 11/17
- Walker Robinson
- Nov 17, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 27
Indo-Pacific Defense Forum. November 12th, 2024.
This article details how Australia, the U.K., and the U.S. are collaboratively testing and developing AI-enabled military technologies. The AUKUS alliance is mainly focused on autonomous vehicles and systems. The allies intend to evaluate how well AI-powered vehicles can perform in challenging conditions through initiatives like the TORVICE trials in South Australia and exercises at Britain's Salisbury Plain. A key area of interest is for these drones to perform well in environments with electronic warfare interference. The piece also highlights how various Indo-Pacific nations like Singapore and India have begun incorporating AI into their military operations. AUKUS and other U.S. allies are highly concerned about adversarial AI capabilities. The article quotes General Bryan Fenton, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, saying, "We watched the PRC use AI to augment cyberattacks, support economic espionage, and assist in the development of what they call system destruction warfare." He mentions that North Korea and Iran have used AI for malign operations as well. Furthermore, he emphasized the gap in ethical considerations between democratic countries and their authoritarian counterparts. Unlike China, North Korea, and Iran, Australia, and other U.S. allies have strongly emphasized AI technology's safe and ethical development and deployment.
As potential adversaries like China, Russia, and North Korea advance their AI capabilities, it becomes essential for the U.S. and its allies to maintain technological superiority in autonomous systems and other AI technology. Deterrence capabilities and battlefield effectiveness would significantly reduce if the U.S. and its allies fell behind. Additionally, the focus on developing AI that can operate in contested environments addresses a critical vulnerability in modern military operations. Still, it is only one of the many gaps that must be filled. Some gaps will be impossible to anticipate until they appear in a conflict. This technology is advancing so rapidly that new gaps will inevitably accompany any new system. Military leaders and decision-makers must understand the pace at which military technological development will take place. Taking the necessary steps now to lay the groundwork with U.S. allies for technology sharing, interoperability, and a shared approach to development and deployment will pay off tenfold in the future. Furthermore this collective and unified approach to valuing safety and ethics in the development and deployment of AI technology will be essential for global regulation and norm building moving forward.
Brandi Vincent, Defense Scoop. November 15th, 2024.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is embarking on his final Indo-Pacific tour to visit Australia, the Philippines, Laos, and Fiji. He aims to strengthen military partnerships further and advance technological cooperation. This trip includes several significant meetings and initiatives to enhance regional support. These include establishing a new bilateral coordination center in the Philippines, a meeting with the Japanese and Australian ministers of defense, and technology demonstrations of unmanned vessels throughout the trip. Austin will make history as the first U.S. Defense Secretary to visit Fiji. He plans to negotiate a Status of Forces Agreement and establish new regional logistical support structures.
These diplomatic and military engagements are critical to U.S. national security as they represent concrete steps to counter China's growing influence in the Indo-Pacific. The focus on unmanned systems and information-sharing capabilities demonstrates the Pentagon's commitment to maintaining technological superiority while building a network of interoperable allied forces. Establishing new military agreements and coordination centers in strategic locations like the Philippines and Fiji is essential for any potential regional conflict. Establishing these agreements allows for better U.S. military presence and improved rapid response capabilities in the region. As China continues to threaten Taiwan with military force, asserts its illegal claim over the South China Sea, and seeks to increase its influence in East Asia further, the U.S. needs to prioritize both old and new partners in the region. Despite the other conflicts in the world, Ukraine, Israel, and others, the U.S. cannot afford to let East Asia go unattended.
Brandi Vincent, Defense Scoop. November 17th, 2024.
As mentioned in the previous article, Secretary of Defense Austin attended a trilateral meeting in Darwin, Australia, this week with the Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Japanese Minister of Defense Nakatani Gen. This meeting was the first of Austin's stops on his Indo-Pacific tour. The leaders announced new initiatives to integrate their military capabilities further and strengthen their coordination and technology-sharing efforts. They focused on autonomous weapons, combat aircraft, and advanced defensive infrastructure. This meeting laid out some steps toward enhancing cooperation between the three countries. These steps included Japan's potential involvement in AUKUS Pillar 2 projects and the establishment of new "Trilateral Defense Consultations." The consultations would be regularly held discussions to align policy and operational objectives between the three countries' militaries.
This meeting and the associated goals represent essential steps in the future of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy. Bolstering partnerships with these key allies will be incredibly important, especially regarding military interoperability. New high-tech weapon systems like autonomous aircraft, electronic warfare systems, and other emerging weapons will add new variables to any potential regional conflict. For this reason, it is essential for the U.S., Japan, and Australia to begin the integration process and improve their interoperability before a conflict starts. For these militaries to effectively fight side by side, they must begin this process early as it will help avoid complications in the future.
Marie Boran, Newsweek. November 17th, 2024
As the election concludes, and Donald Trump is set to return to the White House, some experts question what this would mean to AI policy. Trump has said he plans to eliminate Biden's existing AI executive order. However, some experts suggest that the core elements of AI development will remain. Competition over AI remains a widespread bipartisan issue, and state-level regulation will likely continue to develop regardless of what occurs at the federal level. California's Transparency Act, for example, shows how state-level oversight will likely continue to shape industry practices regardless of any federal policy shift.
The Biden administration's White House memo on AI was promising and comprehensive, so abolishing it without a sufficient replacement would likely be risky. Furthermore, should Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency be given control over shaping the federal approach to AI, it would likely raise concerns over a conflict of interest. Musk has been heavily invested in AI advancement, and the worry is that regulation and safety standards may be relaxed in favor of expediting breakthroughs. State-level regulation may serve as sufficient patchwork in the near future, so a more unified approach will be necessary. Without knowing the intended approach or policy that the Trump administration wants to enact, it is difficult to understand what the AI governance landscape will look like moving forward. Still, one thing is clear: The U.S. is at a pivotal moment with AI that could define the very future of our country. The decisions made by the Trump administration will likely have a long-standing impact on AI innovation, safety, and norms.
