The Pentagon is combing the AI developer community to try to build a self-starting swarm of AI-enabled drones capable of recognizing and tracking a target – ostensibly for search and rescue, but potentially for search and destroy.
The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) issued a request (RFI) late in December seeking the latest and greatest in AI and drone swarm tech – and looking for clever ideas on how to combine the two. The resulting smart-swarm, the agency said, should be self-directing, able to find and track humans (“and manmade objects,” the RFI specifies) on its own, capable of streaming video of its activities, and willing to nudge its minders (who won’t be minding it most of the time, since it’s primarily AI-powered) when it has latched on to something interesting. The swarm will have to be able to move at least 50 knots (93 km/h), stay in the air for at least 2 hours, and cover 100 square nautical miles (343 square km).
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