According to Cointelegraph: The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has suggested that the future could witness a struggle between artificial intelligence (AI) and countermeasures attempting to thwart it, according to a statement released on January 25.
As part of its stated intentions, the DOD aims to implement and train AI systems that are resilient to potential attacks and are capable of processing vast amounts of data. The DOD's Cyber Crime Center executive director, Jude Sunderbruch, explained at the Google Defense Forum that this battle against 'counter-AI' involves detecting and preventing attempts to manipulate AI systems.
Adversaries, working at high speed via fiber optic networks, are constantly trying to breach security measures, said Sunderbruch. He also noted that the ensuing struggle would raise complex questions regarding the nature of truth, though he cautioned against describing the situation as an "arms race," preferring the term "strategic competition."
The Defense Information Systems Agency's intelligence director, Army Colonel Richard Leach, reiterated the importance of AI for processing the "tsunami of data" provided to decision-makers and suggested AI could perform basic analysis, thus freeing analysts to focus on more challenging problems.
The statement echoes sentiments expressed by Meta’s AI boss, Yann LeCun, who in December 2023 mentioned an ongoing "AI war."
The U.S. government is actively interested in AI's use and regulation, establishing new safety and security standards for AI in October under an executive order from President Joe Biden. It also warned in January of the potential misuse of AI to aid criminal activities such as hacking and money laundering.