Slightly Unconscionable

Andy and Dave discuss the latest in AI news and research, including a GAO report on AI – Status of Developing and Acquiring Capabilities for Weapon Systems [1:01]. The U.S. Army has awarded a contract for the demonstration of an offensive drone swarm capability (the HIVE small Unmanned Aircraft System), seemingly similar but distinct from DARPA’s OFFSET demo [4:11]. A ‘pitch deck’ from Clearview AI reveals their intent to expand beyond law enforcement and aim to have 100B facial photos in its database within a year [5:51]. Tortoise Media releases a global AI index that benchmarks nations based on their level of investment, innovation, and implementation of AI [7:57]. Research from UC Berkeley and the University of Lancaster shows that humans can no longer distinguish between real and fake (generated by GANs) faces [10:30]. MIT, Aberdeen, and the Centre of Governance of AI look at trends of computation in machine learning, identifying three eras and trends, including a ‘large-scale model’ trend where large corporations use massive training runs [13:37]. A tweet from the chief scientist at OpenAI, speculating on the ‘slightly conscious’ attribute of today’s large neural networks, sparks much discussion [17:23]. While a white paper in the International Journal of Astrobiology examines what intelligence might look like at the planetary level, placing Earth as an immature Technosphere [19:04]. And Kush Varchney at IBM publishes for open access a book on Trustworthy Machine Learning, examining issues of trust, safety, and much more [21:29]. Finally, CNA Russia Studies Program member Sam Bendett returns for a quick update on autonomy and AI in the Ukraine-Russia conflict [23:30]. https://www.cna.org/CAAI/audio-video