It’s widely presumed that artificial intelligence (AI) will play a dominant role in future wars. Maybe not Skynet and Terminator-level stuff, but plenty of independent hunter-killer vehicles blasting each other and the rest of us.
However, the way the future unfolds might be nothing like that. AI developments increasingly led by machine learning-enabled technologies, seem to be going in another direction. Here is our take on what the future holds.
What is the history of Artificial Thinking? AI is a fairly plastic term. Its meaning has shifted over time, reflecting changes in both our understanding of what intelligence is and in the technology available to mimic this. Today, AI is mostly used to describe a broad range of technologies that allow computers to enhance, supplement or replace human decision-making. Machine learning is just one of this family of technologies.
Since the adoption of modern computers, terms such as “artificial intelligence” have conjured-up images like those of the HAL 9000 computer from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. While computers that think and function with complete autonomy from human direction are still a ways off, machines with the capacity for a dramatically increased capacity to evaluate information, make choices and act on decisions have made remarkable progress over the last decade and established the foundation for the emerging technologies of machine learning. These technologies have broad applications in many fields, including defense and national security.
Machine learning, developing processes that mimic human brain functioning, is patterned on how brain cells work in a neural network. This approach could be described as “data-driven,” providing inputs that became the basis for establishing cause and effect relationships, in a similar manner to how human brains create knowledge and make judgments.