U.S. Navy ships to be equipped with AI-powered networks

By Warren Miller, contributing writer

If you’ve seen a movie or watched television at any point in the last 30 years, you’ve probably seen more than one depiction of giant autonomous killing machines mowing down human cannon fodder in bleak dystopian hellscapes. Fiction has seemingly been painting a worrisome portrait of a future in which military weaponry and technology is controlled by intelligent machines since before the concept of artificial intelligence even existed. Not to sound too “doom and gloom,” but the first steps in making that fiction a reality are possibly being taken as we speak. However, instead of SkyNet, the villainous AI in the “Terminator”film franchise, it looks like the first step is going to be SeaNet.

The United States Navy reportedly plans on expanding their Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services ocean combat network — or CANES, for short — by using AI to connect ships, submarines, and on-shore naval stations. At first glance, the benefits of incorporating AI into military systems (and in this case, non-weaponized ones) is obvious — automating military operations means fewer servicemen and -women in harm’s way, not to mention the oodles of money that will be saved over time. Theoretically, AI-enhanced systems could also process threat information more quickly and thoroughly, thereby making onboard naval personnel safer. The Navy plans to incorporate CANES into more than 190 naval vessels and maritime operations centers by 2020.  “We want to use it not only for defensive sensing of our networks but also for suggesting countermeasures,” said Rear Adm. Danelle Barrett, Navy cybersecurity director, of AI . “We want to trust a machine and also look at AI in terms of how we use it against adversaries.”

The Navy plans on incorporating CANES into more than 190 naval vessels and maritime operations centers by 2020. Image source: Pixabay.

“We see that the more we can automate our networks, the more we can use machines to do the heavy lifting,” said Barrett. “Our brains do not have the capacity from a time or intellectual capacity to process all of that information. It is imperative to how we will be able to maneuver and defend networks in the future. We can have more automated defenses so that, when things happen, responses can be machine-driven. It won’t necessarily require a human.”

The exploration of the use of AI to improve effectiveness may have a short-term benefit as well. Recent accidents on the high seas are being considered as symptoms of an environment rife with overwork and little sleep for Navy personnel. If AI can help improve the efficiency of ships and the men and women who serve on them, this could dramatically improve the work environment, save lives, and reduce costs. Perhaps the timing of these AI efforts is one response to the current questions about the efficiency of our forces at sea.

The United States Air Force is also in the process of incorporating AI into its own operations. An ongoing USAF initiative, dubbed Project Maven, aims to utilize machine learning to help get the most out of drone surveillance footage, not unlike the way some of the giants in the tech industry are using similar AI-based image-recognition software in self-driving cars and cellphones.

Although this all sounds precariously close to being the precursor to those fictional dystopian futures mentioned earlier, it is important to point out that CANES and Project Maven are non-weaponized programs. It’s not as if the world isn’t paying attention, either. The United Nations has and will continue to debate the potential ramifications, both positive and negative, of the union between artificial intelligence and military force. It’s hard to imagine any right-minded person being eager for the day when machines/computers are determining the value of human life, whether it be in a combat situation or anywhere else. Still, it might be a good idea to make anyone working on the development of autonomous weapons systems sit down and watch the first couple of “Terminator” movies first. And they shouldn’t be given any popcorn.