The U.S. Department of Defense must do whatever it takes to boost the country's military technological advantage over China, especially in artificial intelligence (A.I.) and other key emerging technologies.
Robert Work, former deputy secretary of defense and undersecretary of the Navy, believes China will likely surpass the U.S. in AI by the next decade if the Pentagon goes about business as usual. He also demanded deep and broad reforms to the way the Pentagon develops and implements AI and emerging technology programs meant to protect U.S. national security.
Work said these vital reforms will require "top-down leadership" that starts with a "high-level steering committee on emerging technology."
He said the Pentagon needs to set clear digital readiness performance goals this year as a first step in revamping its outdated requirements process.
Work urged the Pentagon and other governmental agencies "to establish a common digital ecosystem" with the private sector, universities and research institutions.
The joint hearing of the House Armed Services cyber, innovative technologies and information systems subcommittee and the House Oversight and Reform national security subcommittee before which Work testified heard expert opinion about the 700-plus-page report from the National Security Commission on artificial intelligence.
The report ruefully noted "a lack of national urgency is dangerous at a time when underlying weaknesses have emerged in our AI ecosystem that impair innovation and when viewed against the backdrop of China's state-directed AI progress."
The report said without national leadership and a clear A.I. strategy, "uneven adoption of AI will threaten military interoperability and the political cohesion and resiliency of U.S. alliances."
It recommends organizing a Digital Corps, a Digital Reserve Corps and a degree-granting Digital Academy as part of a raft of measures to ensure U.S. A.I. superiority. The Digital Academy intends to offer a highly-concentrated seven-year technological curriculum.
"The Digital Corps is modeled on the Army's Medical Corps" and organized along specialized lines, said the report. It would have its own personnel policies, guidelines for promotion, training and certification system.
Committee members, however, were wary of these recommendations on account of the huge costs involved. On the other hand, former Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon Clyburn told committee members the recommendations "can help improve A.I. education, perform data triage and acquisition, help guide projects and frame digital solutions" across the government.
She said students at the academy will have to serve in the military for a specified time.
