The militaristic use of AI is somewhat controversial, so this story in Artificial Intelligence News sparked my interest. According to the story, the British military has been trialling the use of AI to “scan for hidden attackers in a mock battlefield environment.” The testing ground is actually in Montreal, Canada rather than the UK, as Canada and the UK, along with the US, Australia and New Zealand are members of what is called ‘Five Eyes’, which is a security partnership.

The AI tool is called SAPIENT (Sensors for Asset Protection using Integrated Electronic Network Technology)

and it has been developed with the aim of using sensors to detect battlefield hazards while freeing up human soldiers for other operational activities. To some it may sound like something you might find while playing “Call of Duty,” except this too will not be deployed in a virtual reality.

 Keeping pace with Russia

Not everyone welcomes the introduction of AI to warfare, but those that do support it point to Russia and China’s heavy investment in military AI and say we must keep pace with them. Russia’s bellicose president Vladimir Putin has already said, “Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.”

Google’s Project Maven

Perhaps that is a chilling enough statement to send most nations scurrying off to work on AI and why the ‘Five Eyes’ are continuing to test news tools extensively. Yet others are wary. For example, earlier in 2018 you may remember the furore that erupted at Google’s offices over its Project Maven contract with the Pentagon to develop AI technology for drones for the Pentagon. Google was forced to drop the contract following an internal backlash and staff resignations.  Some 4,000 staff members demanded that Google would never again “build warfare technology.” Google CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in a blog post the company will not develop technologies or weapons that cause harm, or anything which can be used for surveillance violating “internationally accepted norms” or “widely accepted principles of international law and human rights.”

SAPIENT development

But others are undeterred by such considerations, and it is a extremely interesting area of debate, especially for ‘civilian’ companies like Google. When companies typically associated with the military work on technology, you can expect a different response from their employees, because this is simply what they do. That is the case with SAPIENT, which was developed by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and industry partners, and co-funded initially by Innovate UK. Since 2016, the programme has been funded solely by DSTL, which is part of the Ministry of Defence.

 

The UK’s Defence Minister Stuart Andrew said of SAPIENT:

“This British system can act as autonomous eyes in the urban battlefield. This technology can scan streets for enemy movements so troops can be ready for combat with quicker, more reliable information on attackers hiding around the corner.

Investing millions in advanced technology like this will give us the edge in future battles.”

Sapience, by the way, means “the ability to act with judgement.” The question is, can an AI tool that monitors people approaching a checkpoint, or changes in people’s behaviour, rally replace human intelligence? There are many stories about human errors and innocent people have been mistakenly shot. Will AI deliver better responses? Sadly, we will only know after it has been deployed.

 

 

If you are a small business owner, you may wonder if it is possible to implement AI in your business; you may even feel very challenged by the idea. There is a sense amongst small business owners that AI is only for the big companies, but this is a mistake; there are ways to use it regardless of the size of your company. Furthermore, at some point your competitors will catch on to the idea of AI and then you’ll be left behind, so don’t follow the sheep and keep thinking “I’m too small for AI.”

1. Use AI to analyse data

Big business obviously has lots of data to analyse and AI is very useful for this, but it can be applied to more modest amounts of data as well. Plus, it is far less expensive than hiring a firm to do the calculations and provide the insights. From determining what keeps customers coming back to your business to helping you discover new market niches, AI is a versatile statistical tool.

2. Use AI to hire staff

Small companies don’t usually have an HR department, but AI can help you here. For example, AI can determine which of your past hiring practices were the most effective. Other AI applications can discover solid leads in surprising places, and inform recruiters about the details of a candidate’s work history and his or her fit for a particular role.

3. Get more organised with AI

AI can help with bookkeeping and other housekeeping activities that staff often find monotonous and dull. When AI is used in this way, staff see it as less of a threat to their jobs.

4. Improve customer service

It has become essential for companies to develop new ways to quickly address their customers’ concerns. This is one of the reasons why Gartner predicts that a quarter of customer service operations will “integrate virtual customer assistant (VCA) or chatbot technology across engagement channels by 2020, up from less than two percent in 2017.”

5. AI can assist with marketing

An Inc.com survey found that 93 percent of market researchers think AI presents an opportunity for their industry. It eliminates the need for employees to do mechanical tasks; from data preparation to advanced data analysis, which is the most common use of AI.

According to an April 2018 McKinsey report  AI is “likely to have the most substantial impact in marketing and sales.” Therefore, small businesses should start integrating AI now to reach as many consumers as possible in the future.