Saronic Technologies’ Post

I really enjoyed speaking with Murray Brewster about Canada's military AI strategy. It's great that we are among the first countries to publish such a strategy. However, there's room for improvement in creating a more comprehensive implementation vision. On the bright side, there's a clear opportunity for Canada to take a leadership role at the international level. For the latter, we need political will. https://lnkd.in/g3hif7-X

Intelligence Book of the day: The Arms of the Future: Technology and Close Combat in the Twenty-First Century

Many thanks to RUSI for another thought-provoking and insightful Land Warfare Conference, which I had the privilege to attend 22-23 July this year. The Chief of the General Staff laid out the ambition for the British Army: to double its combat power in the next 3 years in order to put UK in a position to confront and defeat, alongside its allies, the potential confluence of threats in an increasingly unstable world. The potential routes to achieving this discussed over the two days included: - Harnessing technology to optimise the capabilities that the Army already has. - Investment in UAS and novel technologies for surveillance and target attack; and countering the proliferation of enemy UAS. - Exploiting AI to increase the speed and accuracy of decision-making, and developing reliable autonomous systems. - Optimising the management, sharing and exploitation of data across all systems. - Resetting the MoD relationship with industry, and reducing the paralysing bureaucracy and wasteful expense in our procurement processes. The key first step in solving a problem is taking the time to properly understand what needs to be fixed. The conference has contributed significantly to starting to improve that understanding. The challenge, as ever, will be translating words into action! The clock is ticking...

My eldest daughter asked for my impressions from this article, stating her unease with stripping the governors off the acquisition process. This was my non-answer: “So I was focused more on the theory of their case than the implications, but let me take a crack at both. I have a lot of respect for Milley, and we are already at the point of developing what he calls the “operating concept” that must inform force structure, that then results in procurement. We are not ready for future war, but neither is anyone else, to include Russia and China. There’s something to be said for letting them test it out while we observe. We already know we have a huge munitions gap, but the current budgeting process will have us addressing that when the platforms to launch all the munitions we build will be on their way to obsolescence. The current procurement model rewards people who still think in 15-year terms - is that something we want to change? If we truly think we are in a generational struggle, maybe we need to accept some risk in accountability for a time in weapons acquisition. Is that being alarmist, and opening ourselves up to a world that will inevitably lead to WWIII or worse AI-infused outcomes? IDK. To paraphrase Niall Ferguson, we currently live in a world where Russia is actively trying to wipe Ukraine from the map; where Iran is actively trying to wipe Israel from the map; where China’s stated goal is to end democracy in Taiwan, as they have in Hong Kong. The axis of assholes has made great strides over the last decade operating just under the threshold of armed conflict - now they are engaging in just enough armed conflict to test what we have the stomach for, and we are found wanting. It harms the credibility of our deterrence model. Either we believe we are the leaders of the liberal democratic order (with all of its benefits and flaws, believing it to be the best government humans have invented so far), or we are ready to be part of the senescence of that world and slowly give way to the PRC ‘s version of a world order.” https://lnkd.in/eyABfny7

👉 "The allure of battle-tested technology cannot be overstated. In the defence sector, proven effectiveness in actual combat conditions significantly enhances a technology’s marketability. This is especially true for AI systems that may have been developed for civilian applications or military software that has not been tested in an actual war. However, the deployment of these advanced technologies on battlefields in Ukraine also raises profound questions about the wider uses of AI in warfare and the role some private companies are playing in shaping global norms on the use of emerging technologies." -- Branka Marijan #bizhumanrights #conflict #technology #artificialintelligence

Last year, we had the most deaths by conflicts since the Second World War. 2023 has also been the year with more conflict since 1945. Despite the ugliness of the matter, starting a conversation about the new methods of war and the role of technology is essential.🤖 In the frontline, wars are still fought by men and women. However, the usage of drones and new technology is shaping the future not only of war but also of our public spending. 💵 New threats require different approaches, and the European states must find a solution to be more influential globally. For more information, check our latest article written by Francesco Grillo #warfare #newtechnologies #artificialintelligence #visionthinktank #EU https://lnkd.in/efBN5Frj

🇺🇦Ukraine has already changed the future of warfare. Its use of aerial drones has revolutionized combat. It has developed and deployed the world’s first tactical naval drone. It jury-rigged a remarkably effective air defense system. It is leveraging artificial intelligence to conduct high-precision missile and drone strikes. It has consistently bested Moscow in the cyber and information spaces. If it can scale any of these technologies, or come up with new ones, it has a fighting chance to actually win. ✔️Ukraine’s defense industry is being “overhauled for innovation,” Hird says. A prime example is Kyiv’s Seababy naval drones, which were developed inside Ukraine and have managed to deliver devastating damage to Russia’s Black Sea fleet. But the volume of output will need to increase drastically. ✔️So as Ukraine tries to boost production at home, it is fighting a three-front war: one on the front lines; another deep inside its occupied territory and even in Russia itself, where warehouses and stockpiles sit; and a third in the information space, worldwide, in trying to convince its allies to continue and boost their support. 🔗Read more via WIRED: https://lnkd.in/edE3tKga #Brave1 #DefenseTech

Yes, GPS needs to be updated.