November/December AMP_Digital

A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 3 0 At the time of this writing, a variety of applications have employed AI to dif- ferent extents, ranging from financial services to business operations to mil- itary endeavors. Regarding military applications, emerging technologies will shape the next generation of war. For example, from human-agent teaming through the advances in AI, soldiers will pro- vide commanders with real-time infor- mation about adversaries, which can be gathered from a variety of different sources. Army robotics gives individ- ual soldiers the capability to control swarms of air and ground robotic sys- tems for missions that would tradition- ally require large numbers of troops to accomplish. A single soldier could conduct re- connaissance over large areas with few- er soldiers and many dozens of robotic systems, an especially important capa- bility in conditions such as dense urban environments. Intelligence teaming and robotic systems can have a signifi- cant impact and provide tactical advan- tages to deliver integrated capabilities in multi-domain battles (air, ground, marine, space, cyberspace) to win a complex war. The concept could also be developed to enhance communications on the battlefield when networks are hampered by enemy activity or when encountering natural obstacles. In the corporate world, AI and ML can apply to every function of doing business. These tools will play an im- pactful role in business intelligence and analytic solutions and will cre- ate the knowhow to rapidly transform data into actions to create competitive advantage. AI will also help Internet of Things (IoT) data analysis in terms of data preparation and discovery, pre- dictive analytics, and geospatial loca- tion data. One example is developing management processes that build the most effective teams of judgment-fo- cused humans and prediction-focused AI agents. THE GLOBAL AI RACE AI talent is key, yet is very scarce with demand exceeding supply. Fund- ing abounds and has experienced expo- nential growth during the past decade. More money will be pouring in from both private and government sources to nurture new talent in order to fill the gap. Meanwhile, thousands of AI start- ups are burgeoning around the globe. For example, the U.K. recently launched new university courses fo- cused on AI and added funding for doc- toral students at top universities. The U.K.’s parliamentary Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence has been set up, dedicated to considering the eco- nomic, ethical, and social implications of advances in AI, and making recom- mendations. China is also embarking on an unprecedented effort to master artificial intelligence. According to the Nov/Dec 2017 issue of MIT Technology Review, the government is planning to invest tens of billions of dollars into the technology in coming years, and Chi- nese companies are investing heavily in educating and developing AI talent. The government is pushing hard to de- velop AI and IoT in China, and encour- aging commercial AI companies. If this nationwide effort succeeds, China will emerge as a leading force in AI. China’s success in building supercomputers demonstrates its potential to catch up to world leaders in AI hardware. AI HARDWARE Working hand-in-hand with soft- ware systems, hardware plays a critical role in the AI era. The increased work- load and nearly unlimited processing AI and robotic systems are expected to shape future military capabilities. Image courtesy of U.S. Army Research Laboratory. Field-programmable gate arrays from Intel are accelerating AI for deep learning in Bing, Microsoft’s intelligent search engine.