2 minute read
The evolving intersection of AI and cyber for Defence
Air Commodore David Rowland, Chief of the Defence AI Centre, tells Desider about the opportunities and challenges for Defence at the fast-evolving intersection of AI and cyber.
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In recent conflicts, technology has been at the front and centre, and those that are innovating and adapting in an agile way have a strategic advantage. While humans cannot be everywhere, technology can be. We face an epoch of unprecedented change. Through their ubiquitous nature, technologies like cyber and artificial intelligence (AI) can exacerbate the potential for a disruption in balance of power, and risk miscalculation and misunderstanding
With the UK Government’s recent Integrated Review refresh, technologies (including AI and cyber) have been placed squarely at the heart of the National Strategy to underscore the importance of operational capacity to achieve ‘real world’ effects in the digital sphere.
As set out in last year’s Defence AI Strategy, the Defence AI Centre (DAIC) is working with partners to mitigate the potential impacts of AI proliferation and misuse, and to champion the study of and subsequently address AI impacts across all domains, including cyber.
The benefits of AI technologies are vast, as we have all seen with the recent eruption of Large Language Models, like Chat GPT, into our everyday consciousness. We are already witnessing its utility in health, farming and finance, in addition to Defence. However, we must also acknowledge its challenges of bias and ‘hallucinations’ (plausible answers produced by AI that turn out to be untrue), and its vulnerability to abuse by malicious actors. As it develops, the potential increases for cyber and AI to intersect to better detect threats, monitor user activity, highlight suspicious content and detect zero-day threats. As our adversaries increasingly employ these technologies, so must we.
At the DAIC, we are accelerating the MOD’s ability to harness the game-changing power of AI through our ambitious, safe and responsible approach. Because most new and emerging technologies, like cyber and AI, are inherently dual-use, innovation is found within a broad ecosystem of university offshoots and fast-moving small-to-medium tech enterprises. The DAIC is working collaboratively, with government, industry, academia and our allies, to champion, enable and innovate AI across Defence and ensure we maintain the strategic advantage for our armed forces.
The intersection of AI and cyber is at a critical juncture. It will require nurturing newly established, thriving technological ecosystems through a clear engagement in education, skills and investment.
The UK is one of the top five nations when it comes to innovation, AI and cyber, and a major international power in science and technology. To maintain our competitive advantage, we must foster best practice collaboration, cohesion, responsible behaviour and threat mitigation. Success will require strong synergistic relationships between operational, research and analytical efforts as part of an integrated UK roadmap.
Upskilling our people is a foundational step in this journey. At all levels, Defence must have the knowledge, skills and tools to ensure that the forces and functions have the skills required to maintain the UK’s position.
As we move further into the era of cyber and AI, Defence must be ready, with the right tools and people, to grab each opportunity and face down each new threat that emerges.
