The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) considers FY20 to be a breakout year for AI-enabled capabilities as it focuses on projects including predictive health; AI for maneuver and fires; and the Joint Common Foundation (JCF).
Speaking to reporters on Aug. 30, director of JAIC Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan said that JAIC’s “biggest project” will be the AI for maneuver and fires that will have “individual lines of effort or product lines oriented on warfighting operations.” These product lines include operations intelligence fusion; joint all-domain command and control; accelerated sensor-to-shooter timelines; autonomous and swarming systems; target development; and operations center workflows.
“We have to move beyond the hype where we don’t view AI as another technology flash in the pan, but instead focus on what it takes to weave AI into the very fabric of [the Defense Department],” Lt. Gen. Shanahan said. “And we’ll know we have succeeded when you’ve gained irreversible momentum and AI has become ubiquitous.”
JAIC is also working with the Defense Innovation Unit and the services’ Surgeons General on the predictive health project that will include health records analysis, medical imagery classification, and post-traumatic stress disorder mitigation and suicide prevention.
Additionally, the JCF will be instrumental to the AI Center of Excellence concept, according to Lt. Gen. Shanahan.
“The JCF will be a platform that will provide access to data, tools, environments, libraries, and other certified platforms to enable software and AI engineers to rapidly develop, evaluate, test and deploy AI-enabled solutions to warfighters,” he said.
