In February, the top artificial intelligence (AI) official at the Department of Defense (DoD) laid out his vision for AI-enabled warfare. “Imagine a world where combatant commanders can see everything they need to see to make strategic decisions,” he said, “[and] the turnaround time for situational awareness shrinks from a day or two to 10 minutes.” This level of speed and awareness can be the difference between life and death on the battlefield.
For AI at the tactical edge to become a reality, though, the DoD must also implement cross-domain technology—particularly to make the most of collaboration with coalition partners. In Ukraine, for example, the U.S. is spearheading a coalition of more than 50 allies. It’s imperative that data from all partners, networks, and classification levels can be fed into AI engines to inform decision-making without sacrificing security—which cannot happen without cross-domain solutions.
The importance of cross-domain technology
It’s no secret that AI is only as effective as the data it’s fed. For AI-enabled warfare to become a reality, clean, high-quality data must be brought together from multiple security levels and coalition networks to form data repositories. But such data sharing must be done with the proper security measures in place. For example, when data from a classified U.S. network is shared with a mission partner, sensitive information—such as how the data was obtained—should be stripped out and only the most pertinent information should remain.
On the flip side, the U.S. and its partners must also be able to take open-source intelligence from unclassified sources, sanitize it by removing all malicious content, and push it up to higher classification levels.
Triangulating intel
Securely bringing together disparate data to inform decision-making is only one side of the coin, though. In addition to working across classification levels and coalition networks, warfighters should also be able to run the same query on multiple AI engines, including those at the unclassified level, to triangulate intel. For instance, it could be extremely useful for warfighters to leverage standard open-source data on sentiment or threats, and to then compare that against classified AI engines. Similarly, a query run on a coalition network could be compared to a U.S. classified network to have a more comprehensive understanding of the situation.
The ability to run the same query on different engines can create a competitive advantage on the battlefield. But also, it highlights the importance of keeping a human in the loop. AI-enabled warfare doesn’t mean the AI is making and acting on a decision all on its own. It’s simply another way to collect and present information—information that must be vetted by trained personnel before any action takes place. Internet AI engines have their own shortcomings, which must be considered in any decision-making. Still, more information is always better.
The bottom line
To keep pace with its adversaries, the DoD must enable warfighters operating near the tactical edge to seamlessly leverage data and AI. Personnel must be able to access data whenever and wherever it’s needed, regardless of network or domain—something that can only be done using cross-domain technology. Securely and efficiently managing the flow of data across classification levels and networks ensures algorithms are analyzing as much relevant data as possible.
While the ability to bring together data from disparate domains and networks is integral to collaborative, AI-enabled warfighting, using a variety of AI engines can further supercharge such efforts. When warfighters can quickly and effectively query a variety of AI engines with cross-domain access technology and triangulate that intel, they have an even greater competitive advantage, as a diversity of perspectives offers warfighters an even more comprehensive understanding of the situation at hand.
About the Author
George Kamis is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Everfox. He works closely with Information Assurance and Cyber Security industry leaders, government executives, and Forcepoint executive management team to help guide their long-term technology strategy and keeps it aligned with federal and industry requirements. By leveraging his wealth of over 30 years of experience in Cyber Security, he has helped lead Forcepoint to become the leader in Cross Domain Solutions (CDS) and cyber security products.
Prior to his role as CTO, he served as Vice President of Engineering for 10 years at Trusted Computer Solutions and ran both the Professional Services and Development organizations. Raytheon acquired Trusted Computer Solutions in 2010. Trusted Computer Solutions, along with other Raytheon acquisitions, formed as Forcepoint in January 2016.
Prior to Trusted Computer Solutions, Mr. Kamis worked for the US Naval Research Laboratory, Center for High Assurance Computer Systems. In this role, he managed the development of multilevel secure systems for the Navy and lead one of the first multilevel system to be deployed in the Navy. He was also involved with the testing and deployment of US Navy communication security (COMSEC) devices.
Mr. Kamis is also an active member of the Technology Committee and Supervisory Committee for the NextMark Federal Credit Union and consults on information technology and cyber security related matters.
He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering with honors from West Virginia University and holds active memberships Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA).
Contact information:
George Kamis, CTO, Everfox
[email protected]
https://www.everfox.com/