CSET Events

Understanding U.S. Military Investments in AI

During this live event, CSET Research Fellow Dr. Margarita Konaev discussed U.S. military investments in autonomy and artificial intelligence. She provided recommendations for the Defense Department to effectively develop and field AI in the future.

If leveraged correctly, investments in defense research can provide the U.S. military with the AI-enabled capabilities needed to deter adversaries, fight and win the wars of the future and cooperate effectively with allies. As the Department of Defense implements its vision for artificial intelligence, CSET Research Fellow Dr. Margarita Konaev joined CSET Distinguished Fellow Dr. Reginald Brothers for a discussion of the scope and implications of U.S. military research investments in autonomy and AI.

Dr. Konaev recently authored a CSET series on the subject. Part I, “A Budgetary Assessment,” draws on publicly available data on DOD’s science and technology program, evaluating the Pentagon’s research investment priorities, trends and gaps. Part II, “A Strategic Assessment,” discusses the impact of DOD’s investment in autonomous and AI-enabled weapons and systems on U.S. military capabilities and strategic interests.

During this webinar, Dr. Konaev outlined the findings of both reports and presented a range of recommendations for filling the knowledge gap in human-machine teaming research, minimizing risks from AI misuse, and prioritizing investments in trustworthy, reliable, and secure AI.

Remarks and Discussion

Participants

Dr. Margarita Konaev is a Research Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) interested in military applications of AI and Russian military innovation. Previously, she was a Non-Resident Fellow with the Modern War Institute at West Point, a post-doctoral fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House. Before joining CSET, she was a Senior Principal in the Marketing and Communications practice at Gartner.

Dr. Konaev’s research on international security, armed conflict, non-state actors and urban warfare in the Middle East, Russia and Eurasia has been published by the Journal of Strategic Studies, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Lawfare, War on the Rocks and others. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame, an M.A. in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University and a B.A. from Brandeis University.

Dr. Reginald Brothers is a Distinguished Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). He is the CEO of NuWave Solutions, which brings together leading-edge data management, analytics, artificial intelligence and cloud technologies to deliver advanced decision support solutions to government and business leaders. Previously,  he served as Under Secretary for Science and Technology at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

From 2011 to 2014, Dr. Brothers served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research at the Department of Defense, where he was responsible for policy and oversight of science and technology programs and laboratories. He has also held senior roles at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and BAE Systems. Dr. Brothers received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist University and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.