The Convergence - The Army's Mad Scientist Podcast

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90. NeuroNudge: The Science Behind Brain Manipulation with Dr. Guosong Hong Jan 25, 2024

Show notes

[Editor’s Note: Regular readers of the Mad Scientist Laboratory are familiar with the potentially disruptive effects of cognitive and neurowarfare. As guest blogger Robert McCreight observed, “Most non-kinetic threats — or the NKT spectrum — consist of silent, largely undetectable technologies capable of inflicting damaging, debilitating, and degrading physical and neural effects on its unwitting targets… A determined and patient covert enemy can inflict strategic damage non-kinetically before we can recognize the attack, resist it, or recover from it.” Overmatch in the Land, Air, Sea, Space, and Cyber Domains is irrelevant if our adversaries can harness and unleash capabilities that manipulate the brains of our Leaders.

In our latest episode of The Convergence podcast, we sit down with Dr. Guosong Hong, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University, to explore emergent research behind one such NKT — brain manipulation. Dr. Hong discusses neuro-engineering tools, controlling brains from a distance, and how the Army might one day need to protect our Soldiers and Leaders against mind control — Read on!]

Dr. Guosong Hong is Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University. His research aims to bridge materials science and neuroscience, and blur the distinction between the living and non-living worlds by developing novel neuro-engineering tools to interrogate and manipulate the brain. Specifically, the Hong lab is currently developing ultrasound, infrared, and radiofrequency-based in-vivo neural interfaces with minimal invasiveness, high spatiotemporal resolution, and cell-type specificity.

Dr. Guosong Hong received his PhD in chemistry from Stanford University in 2014, and then carried out postdoctoral studies at Harvard University. Dr. Hong joined Stanford Materials Science and Engineering and Neurosciences Institute as an assistant professor in 2018. He is a recipient of the NIH Pathway to Independence (K99/R00) Award, the MIT Technology Review ‘35 Innovators Under 35’ Award, the Science PINS Prize for Neuromodulation, the NSF CAREER Award, the Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Award.

Army Mad Scientist sat down with Dr. Hong to discuss neuro-engineering tools, controlling brains from a distance, and how the Army might one day need to protect Soldiers against mind control. The following bullet points highlight key insights from our conversation:

During Dr. Hong’s pursuit of his PhD at Stanford University, he createda method using short wave infrared light to non-invasively observe rodent brains without removing the scalp and skull, which was traditionally necessary. During his post-doctoral studies, he created ultra-small devices that can be loaded into a syringe and injected directly into the subject’s brain to stimulate and observe neural activity.
As a faculty member at Stanford, Dr. Hong developed nano particles to inject into the bloodstream which convert ultrasound into local light emission. This allows for optogenetic stimulation based on ultrasound alone.
Rattlesnakes have the unique natural ability to sense infrared radiation. This assists them when hunting for prey – like mice. Dr. Hong was able to use the same ion channels that rattlesnakes use to see this infrared light and inject them into the brain of a mouse. These ion channels are sensitive to the nanometer wave lengths he uses in his experiments and will activate when the light hits them. Controlling the activation allows him to modulate mouse brain activity.
There are several roadblocks that must be overcome to realize potential human applications.Though the procedure is mostly non-invasive, the rattlesnake ion channels still need to be injected into the subject. Gaining approval for human subjects testing from the FDA and other boards of oversight will be difficult – and rightfully so. The size of a human brain compared to a mouse brain is also significant. Penetrating a mouse brain using nanometer wavelengths of light is much easier than penetrating the depth of a human-sized brain. Light at that wavelength won’t be able to travel to the necessary regions.
ContInued research could potentially allow Soldiers to develop infrared vision or sensitivity to radio waves, allowing them to more easily navigate congested battlespace. However, this technology could also be weaponized. If used surreptitiously with an aerosol-delivered agent, it could allow an adversary to target a specific part of a Soldier’s brain to modulate and potentially control their brain activity.

Stay tuned to the Mad Scientist Laboratory for our next episode of The Convergence podcast on 08 February 2024, when we sit down with Dr. Olga Bannova, Director of the Space Architecture Graduate Program at the University of Houston, to discuss space architecture for habitats and systems, and how the Army could apply these habitat concepts to extreme environments on Earth.

If you enjoyed this post and podcast, check out the following related content:

Non-Kinetic Threats and the Threshold Spectrum of Strategic Endgame Warnings, by Robert McCreight

Non-Kinetic War, by COL Stefan J. Banach (USA-Ret.)

In the Cognitive War – The Weapon is You! by Dr. Zac Rogers

Hybrid Threats and Liminal Warfare and associated podcast, with proclaimed Mad Scientist Dr. David Kilcullen

The Classified Mind – The Cyber Pearl Harbor of 2034, by proclaimed Mad Scientist Dr. Jan Kallberg

Cyborg Soldier 2050: Human/Machine Fusion and the Implications for the Future of the DOD and its associated report from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Chemical Biological Center

China’s Brain Trust: Will the U.S. Have the Nerve to Compete? by proclaimed Mad Scientist Dr. James Giordano, as well as his Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and the Future of War and Neuroscience and the Weapons of War podcasts, hosted by our colleagues at the Modern Warfare Institute

One Brain Chip, Please! Neuro-AI with two of the Maddest Scientists and associated podcast, with proclaimed Mad Scientists Dr. James Giordano and Dr. James Canton

Universal Soldier, by proclaimed Mad Scientist Master Sergeant Greg A. McGowan

Linking Brains to Machines, and Use of Neurotechnology to the Cultural and Ethical Perspectives of the Current Global Stage and Designer Genes: Made in China? by Dr. James Giordano and Joseph DeFranco

Battle of the Brain

Connected Warfare by COL James K. Greer (USA-Ret.)

The Last Frontier, by PFC Peter Brenner

Ethics, Morals, and Legal Implications; Ethical Dilemmas of Future Warfare; and The Ethics and the Future of War panel discussion, facilitated by LTG Jim Dubik (USA-Ret.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog post and podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Army Futures Command (AFC), or Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC).

89. Live From D.C., it's Fight Night! (Part Two) Jan 11, 2024

Show notes

[Editor’s Note: Regular consumers of Army Mad Scientist content — via this blog site and The Convergence podcast — understand how wargaming can enhance Professional Military Education (PME), hone cognitive warfighting skills, and broaden our understanding of the Operational Environment. Wargaming removes hierarchies and encourages players to attempt innovative solutions, while also creating a safe environment in which to fail repeatedly and learn from mistakes. Wargaming can also help us assess concepts and capabilities with a reasonable degree of verisimilitude — before committing the Nation to costly, and in some instances, irrevocable courses of action.

In our latest episode of The Convergencepodcast, we return to last fall’s “Fight Night,” hosted by USA Fight Club, CAE, Inc., and Army Mad Scientist in Washington, D.C., for Part Two of our discussion with wargame designers and players, exploring what makes a great wargame and why they are important to the U.S. Army — Enjoy!]

Army Mad Scientistsat down with five wargame designers and players at “Fight Night” in Washington, D.C., on 23 September 2023, to discuss what makes a great wargame and why they are important to the U.S. Army. The following bullet points highlight key insights from our conversation:

Wargames act as an effective tool to systematically explore potential futures and test different hypotheses. They provide a confined, contextualized space to practice strategic decision making while in a safe-to-fail environment. As a teaching tool, players can make decisions and explore the consequences of their actions.
Wargames offer an effective way to work through the challenge of ambiguity.As certain tools may not be sufficient for some ambiguous problems – modeling and simulations or pure analysis – wargames help to fill the methodology gap. For example, they allow players to explore the human dimension of a problem – how people perceive and understand the world around them, and how that influences their ability to accomplish the objective.
Game designers must create wargames with the end-goal or objective in mind at the beginning of the design process.Throughout this process, designers are constantly trying to ensure the game developed meets the objective, while also maintaining internal and external validity needed for a scientific approach.
Technologyhas drastically changed wargaming in recent years. Wargames can be conducted more rapidly and with a significantly larger scope of information enabling the gameplay – including real-time data and AI-enabled activity. Newer wargames also facilitate linking all five domains (land, air, sea, space, and cyber) together for optimum results.
Wargames help the Army better understand the evolution of the Operational Environmentwhich underpins all Army training and Leader development. They can save significant time and money compared to traditional field or full-scale exercises and can include Joint Forces as well as allies and partners from all over the world.

Stay tuned to the Mad Scientist Laboratory for our next episode of The Convergence podcast on 25 January 2024, when we sit down with Dr. Guosong Hong, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University, to discuss neuro-engineering tools, controlling brains from a distance, and how the Army might one day need to protect Soldiers against mind control.

If you enjoyed this post and podcast, check out Live from D.C., it’s Fight Night! (Part One)and associated podcast, with the Hon. William M. (“Mac”) Thornberry…

… as well as the following related wargaming content:

Would You Like to Play a Game? Wargaming as a Learning Experience and Key Assumptions Check and “No Option is Excluded” — Using Wargaming to Envision a Chinese Assault on Taiwan, by Ian Sullivan

Using Wargames to Reconceptualize Military Power, by proclaimed Mad Scientist Caroline Duckworth

Gaming the System: How Wargames Shape our Futureand associated podcast, with guest panelists Ian Sullivan, Mitchell Land, LTC Peter Soendergaard, Jennifer McArdle, Becca Wasser, Dr. Stacie Pettyjohn, Sebastian Bae, Dan Mahoney, and Jeff Hodges

A New American Way of Trainingand associated podcast, with Jennifer McArdle

From Legos to Modular Simulation Architectures: Enabling the Power of Future (War) Play, by Jennifer McArdle and Caitlin Dohrman

The Storm After the Flood virtual wargame scenario, video, notes, and Lessons Learned presentation and video, presented by proclaimed Mad Scientists Dr. Gary Ackerman and Doug Clifford, The Center for Advanced Red Teaming, University at Albany, SUNY

The Metaverse: Blurring Reality and Digital Lives with Cathy Hackl and associated podcast

Gamers Building the Future Force and associated podcast

Fight Club Prepares Lt Col Maddie Novák for Cross-Dimension Manoeuvre, by now COL Arnel David, U.S. Army, and Major Aaron Moore, British Army, along with their interview in The Convergence: UK Fight Club – Gaming the Future Army and associated podcast

88. Metamaterial Magic: Demystifying the Science of Cloaking with Dr. Andrea Alù Nov 30, 2023

Show notes

[Editor’s Note: As we reported earlier this month, “The Operational Environment is increasingly lethal with the ubiquity of sensors and proliferation of battlefield automation facilitating effective precision and massed strike capabilities. Forces that can be sensed are targeted, and if targeted, are destroyed or rendered inoperable. ” This increasingly transparent battlespace has been wrought by the democratization and convergence of commercial satellite imagery, inexpensive Unmanned Aerial System (UAS)-borne sensing platforms, and the Internet of Everything and Everyone. The resulting web of networked sensors could usher in the end of covert movement for combat units and their associated command and control and logistical support nodes, and with that spell the demise of strategic and operational deception and surprise.

This battlespace transparency is driving a renewed quest for concealment. In today’s episode of The Convergencepodcast, we sit down with Dr. Andrea Alù to discuss the reality of invisibility, the science behind metamaterials, and the associated possibilities for the U.S. Army.

[If the podcast dashboard is not rendering correctly for you, please click hereto listen to the podcast.]

Andrea Alù is a Distinguished Professor, founding director of the Photonics Initiative at the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, Einstein Professor of Physics at the CUNY Graduate Center, and Professor of Electrical Engineering at The City College of New York. He is affiliated with the Wireless Networking and Communications Group and the Applied Research Laboratories, both based at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is a Senior Research Scientist and Adjunct Professor. His research interests span a broad range of technical areas, including applied electromagnetics, nano-optics and nanophotonics, microwave, THz, infrared, optical and acoustic metamaterials and metasurfaces, plasmonics, nonlinearities and nonreciprocity, cloaking and scattering, acoustics, optical nanocircuits and nanoantennas.

Army Mad Scientistsat down with Dr. Alù to discuss the reality of invisibility, the science behind metamaterials, and the associated possibilities for the U.S. Army. The following bullet points highlight key insights from our conversation:

Alù’s work focuses on wave physics, specifically looking at how to structure materials at the nanoscale to change their interactions with waves – light, sound, and radio – and demonstrate phenomena that would not be possible otherwise, for example invisibility.These new structured materials are called metamaterials because their properties go beyond those of natural materials.

By structuring materials in specific ways, a “cloak” can be created and, when wrapped around an object, can suppress the scattering of light or waves which is what allows the object to be visible. This process causes a transparency effect on the object, effectively causing it to disappear.

There is a limit, however, to making an object fully transparentwhen using passive materials which require no energy. There is a tradeoff between the size of the object and the amount of suppression of scattering waves from the object –- the larger the object, the harder it is to achieve full suppression of the scattering waves.

Invisibility may be traditionally thought of as an object not being visible to the human eye, though other waves can be cloaked as well. Cloaking radio waves can make an object electro-magnetically disappear. For example, an aircraft’s electromagnetic footprint is dominated by only a few parts and reducing the signature of those parts would make the aircraft effectively transparent to most sensors.

The ideal result of a cloaked object is that it is truly not detectable in any frequency range — however Dr. Alù’s team has proven that there are fundamental limits to cloaking frequencies — there is no way to cloak an object from all frequencies.It is possible to cloak an object (such as an aircraft) from conventional radar frequency, but this in turn creates a larger signature at other frequencies.

The On-going Concealment Challenge: The Internet of Everything and Everyone is increasing transparency and granularity across the modern battlespace, transforming everyone and everything into potential sensors. The convergence of inexpensive commercial technologies has further democratized battlefield transparency, as commercial satellite imagery, urban CCTVs, and the proliferation of small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) provide multiple corroborating views. The quest for concealment will spur continued development of sensor countermeasures in the enduring competition for battlefield advantage.

Stay tuned to the Mad Scientist Laboratory for our next episode of The Convergence podcast on 14 December 2023!

If you enjoyed reading this post, please also see our discussions regarding Concealment in the Fundamental Questions Affecting Army Modernization and Finders vs Hiders in Timeless Competitions…

… as well as the following related content:

Nowhere to Hide: Information Exploitation and Sanitization

War Laid Bareand Decision in the 21st Century, by Matthew Ader

Warfare in the Parallel Cambrian Ageby Chris O’Connor

Integrated Sensors: The Critical Element in Future Complex Environment Warfare, by Dr. Richard Nabors

The Operational Environment’s Increased Lethality

Democratized Intelligence, by Kate Kilgore

Death From Above! The Evolution of sUAS Technology and associated podcast, with COL Bill Edwards (USA-Ret.)

Unmanned Capabilities in Today’s Battlespace

Top Attack: Lessons Learned from the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War and its associated podcast, as well as Sooner Than We Think: Command Post Survivability and Future Threats and its associated podcast, both with COL John Antal (USA-Ret.)

Insights from Ukraine on the Operational Environment and the Changing Character of Warfare

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Army Futures Command (AFC), or Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC).

87. Live from D.C., it's Fight Night! (Part One) with the Hon. Mac Thornberry Oct 26, 2023

Show notes

[Editor’s Note: Regular consumers of Army Mad Scientist content — via this blog site and The Convergence podcast — will understand how wargaming can enhance Professional Military Education (PME), hone cognitive warfighting skills, and broaden our understanding of the Operational Environment. Wargaming removes hierarchies and encourages players to attempt innovative solutions, while also creating a safe environment in which to fail repeatedly and learn from mistakes. Wargaming can also help us assess concepts and capabilities with a reasonable degree of verisimilitude — before committing the Nation to costly, and in some instances, irrevocable courses of action.

In our latest episode of The Convergencepodcast, we report back from “Fight Night” in Washington, D.C. , where we sat down with the Hon. William M. (“Mac”) Thornberry, former U.S. Representative for Texas’ 13th Congressional District and former Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, to discuss the importance of wargaming to public policy, his experiences with it on Capitol Hill, and what we can do to better emphasize it with our lawmakers — Enjoy!]
[If the podcast dashboard is not rendering correctly for you, please click hereto listen to the podcast.]

The Almanac of American Politics 2020 called William M. (“Mac”) Thornberry “one of Congress’ brainiest and most thoughtful members on national and domestic security issues,” and said that he “has long been at the forefront of national security issues.”  USA Today said Mac has “experience in Washington, a rare long view and a reputation for serious, thoughtful problem-solving.” Since leaving Congress after 26 years, which included service as Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Mac continues to work at the intersection of technology and national security.  He serves various companies and non-profit organizations as a board member and advisor.

Consistently on the leading edge of critical national security issues during his time in Congress, Mac led in creating the National Nuclear Security Administration to improve management of the nation’s nuclear weapons complex; establishing the Department of Homeland Security (introducing a bill to do so six months before the attacks of 9/11); preparing the military to defend the nation in new domains of warfare such as space and cyber; and improving DOD’s innovation and acquisition efforts.

In addition to serving on the House Armed Services Committee throughout his time in Congress, Mac also served on the House Intelligence Committee for 14 years. He has written widely on defense matters and appeared on all major television channels providing insight on national security-related issues.

In December 2021, Mac received the Peace Through Strength Award from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute.  He is also the recipient of the Distinguished Service Medals from the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, as well as the Marine Corps Foundation’s Semper Fidelis Award, the American Legion’s Distinguished Public Service Award, the Sam Nunn National Security Leadership Award from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and awards from the Aerospace Industries Association, Military Officers Association, National Defense Industrial Association, Non Commissioned Officer Association, Computing Technology Industry Association, USO-Metro among others. During the fall 2021 semester, he was a Resident Fellow at the Institute of Politics in Harvard’s Kennedy School and has been named a Distinguished Alumnus of Texas Tech University.

Born in Clarendon, Texas and raised on the family ranch in Donley County, Mac is a graduate of Clarendon High School, Texas Tech University, and the University of Texas Law School. After law school he worked in Washington on Capitol Hill and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs in the State Department under President Reagan. In 1989, Mac joined his brothers in the cattle business and practiced law in Amarillo until his election to Congress.

Army Mad Scientistcaught up with Mac at “Fight Night” in Washington, D.C., on 23 September 2023, where he headlined the event. We spoke with him about the importance of wargaming to public policy, his experiences with it on the Hill, and what we can do to better emphasize it with our lawmakers. The following bullet points highlight key insights from our conversation:

National security issues today are more complex than ever. Developing the intellectual capital of our military and congressional leadersby exploring scenarios and decision-making through wargaming is becoming even more crucial.

Wargaming provides political leaders with a deeper understanding of dealing with large, complex problems and the practical support required for military operations, making it a very important and useful tool for Congress. Consequences of decision-making are clearer and more impactful when played out in a game.

A positive, working relationship between congressional and military leaders is necessary at the strategic level, as conflicts are no longer isolated to the military. Conflicts will have implications for all Government departments, from the Department of Homeland Security to the State Department.

Wargaming is especially significant for planning and readiness, allowing players to explore different scenarios to determine whether execution of a particular plan is possible given current readiness.This has large implications for resource decision-making, as Congress must provide and maintain for the military.

Joint wargames between congressional and military leadership provide both parties an opportunity to make decisions side-by-side while experiencing how the other thinks and operates. Games conducted with joint participation allow both to simultaneously understand, anticipate, and execute planning and operations, learning in a safe, controlled, and iterative environment.

Stay tuned to the Mad Scientist Laboratory for our next episode of The Convergence podcast on 09 November 2023, when we report back from “Fight Night” (Part Two) with the designers, coordinators, and participants and their insights on the importance of wargaming!

If you enjoyed this post, check out the following related content:

Using Wargames to Reconceptualize Military Power, by proclaimed Mad Scientist Caroline Duckworth

A New American Way of Trainingand associated podcast, with Jennifer McArdle

From Legos to Modular Simulation Architectures: Enabling the Power of Future (War) Play, by Jennifer McArdle and Caitlin Dohrman

The Metaverse: Blurring Reality and Digital Lives with Cathy Hackl and associated podcast

Gamers Building the Future Force and associated podcast

86. Death From Above! The Evolution of sUAS Technology with COL (USA-Ret.) Bill Edwards Oct 12, 2023

Show notes

[Editor’s Note: Army Mad Scientist continues to explore issues impacting the Operational Environment, especially those directly affecting U.S. Army operations in the contemporary battlespace. Over the past decade-plus, dual use automation technologies have increasingly been weaponized by state and non-state actors alike, democratizing warfighting capabilities in the air, land, and sea domains. In the air domain, Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) initially provided Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities without the associated costs and infrastructure required to operate manned platforms. More recently, we’ve witnessed ISR and strike capabilities converge in small UAS (sUAS), granting lesser powers the ability to identify, reach, and strike targets — “lower[ing] the ‘entry fee’ into combined arms operations.” With this democratization of the air domain, we’re also witnessing the resurgence of Mass. Virtually anyone will “be able to use these small, cheap, and individually expendable platforms to almost continuously gather real-time intelligence and choose the time and place to overwhelm an adversary’s defenses through sheer volume” — creating, in the eloquent words of proclaimed Mad Scientist Zachery Tyson Brown, Jomini’s Revenge: Mass Strikes Back! Today’s episode of The Convergence podcast features our interview with COL Bill Edwards (USA-Ret.) exploring the very real, contemporary threat presented by sUAS, what trends he’s seeing emerge from current and recent conflicts, and how the U.S. Army, the Joint Force, and the Nation as a whole should respond. Read the highlights from our interview below, then listen to this important podcast — it’s not too late, but the time to act is now!] [If the podcast dashboard is not rendering correctly for you, please click hereto listen to the podcast.] COL Bill Edwards (USA-Ret.) currently serves as President of Federal and Public Safety at Building Intelligence, Inc. Before this role, COL Edwards was a Principal in Protective Design and Security for Thornton Tomasetti, a globally recognized structural engineering firm. As an organizational leader, he has been instrumental in expanding the organization’s global footprint by providing strategic direction in the startup of a new security consultancy division focused on providing comprehensive security-driven risk mitigation approaches and business continuity solutions. Before this, COL Edwards served as the Director of Intelligence, Special Operations Command North, where he oversaw the successful unification of interagency communications in support of Homeland Defense. He additionally earned recognition for transforming a struggling $400M DoD technical intelligence program as the Capability Director for the U.S. Army’s Intelligence Center, and served as a Commander in the U.S. Army, overseeing strategic military and intelligence operations in theatres across the globe. From 2009 to 2011, COL Edwards served as a Commander and Director of Operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. In this highly complex leadership role, he led a U.S. Army Battalion of 800 personnel, a $50M operating and contract budget, and numerous governances, economic development, and security readiness programs. He additionally managed two major U.S. Base facilities, as well as numerous outposts, located throughout a geographic region the size if the State of Kentucky. Lastly, he led the Brigade’s Counter Improvised Explosive Device (IED) network defeat operations. COL Edwards co-authored Inside Abu Ghraib: Memoirs of Two U.S. Military Intelligence Officers, and is an editorial writer for Forbes, ASIS International, Security Industry Association (SIA), and Security Magazine. He is routinely invited to speak at nationally attended security industry symposiums. He holds two Master’s Degrees in National Security and Public Administration and most recently attended Harvard’s Executive Negotiations and Duke University’s Executive Leadership programs. COL Edwards has also created three adult learning classes to support education surrounding the small Uncrewed Aerial System (sUAS) technology — The Evolution of Drones in Society and Conflict — found at: www.phoenix6consulting.com. Based on his strengths as a contextual leader, COL Edwards has proven his ability to serve as an agent of change by identifying and resolving enterprise-level issues, creating identity, and harnessing the “power of the team”. He has extensive experience in high-profile security projects in a myriad of markets. Army Mad Scientist sat down with COL Edwards to discuss the contemporary threat presented by sUAS, what trends he’s seeing emerge from current and recent conflicts, and how the U.S. Army, the Joint Force, and the Nation as a whole should respond. The following bullet points highlight key insights from our conversation: Advancements in sUAS technology are changing modern conflict— creating a Revolution in Military Affairs — making the air domain an integral part of comprehensive security program development. As the convergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and autonomous systems matures into new technology, our training models at every level must teach our Soldiers how to fight and win in this environment and Leaders how to recognize and defend against the threat these capabilities represent to their units and missions. The Russia/Ukraine conflictis the latest laboratory for the evolution of sUAS platforms, especially with the evolution of First-Person View (FPV) drone technology – using virtual reality to fly a drone with strike precision into a target. The evolution of sUAS technology can be traced to the Israel/Hamas conflict in 2021, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2020, the initial Russia/Ukraine conflict in 2014, and as far back as Iraq in 2010. Drone usage in the Russia/Ukraine conflict is different than any other recent modern conflict – commanders today are facing an entirely new set of challenges. In 2010, enemy forces started to develop sUAS technology solely for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. In the contemporary battlespace,ISR and weapons delivery capabilities have converged in Category 1-3 drones. Drone and sUAS platforms can be extremely cheap, making them easily accessible to smaller nations, governments, and organizations.In recent conflicts, governments have also urged private citizens to offer their drones to assist with ISR capabilities. The advancement of 3-D printing is another mechanism heavily relied on throughout the Russia/Ukraine conflict for creating launch-and-forget drone platforms that can carry a payload. With further blurred lines between military and civilian targets, there will be no rear area in future conflicts.Critical infrastructure in a conflict zone requires a layered, integrated defense for the air domain (not just air defense, but organic Counter-UAS, across all echelons and spanning the entire battlespace, from the forward edge of battle, Rear and Staging Areas, Air and Sea Ports of Embarkation/ Debarkation, all the way back to the garrison). Protecting critical infrastructureis also a top priority for the private sector. Stay tuned to the Mad Scientist Laboratory for our next episode of The Convergence podcast on 26 October 2023, when we report back from “Fight Night” in Washington, D.C. — a night of wargaming and wargamers — and talk with the Hon. Mac Thornberry about the importance of wargaming to public policy, his experiences with it on the Hill, and what we can do to better emphasize it with our lawmakers! If you enjoyed this post, check out how China, our pacing challenge, is thinking about employing UAS: The PLA and UAVs – Automating the Battlefield and Enhancing Training A Chinese Perspective on Future Urban Unmanned Operations China: “New Concepts” in Unmanned Combat and Cyber and Electronic Warfare The PLA: Close Combat in the Information Age and the “Blade of Victory” … as well as the following related Army Mad Scientist content: Unmanned Capabilities in Today’s Battlespace Insights from the Robotics and Autonomy Series of Virtual Events, as well as all of the associated webinar content (presenter biographies, slide decks, and notes) and associated videos Insights from Ukraine on the Operational Environment and the Changing Character of Warfare Turkey and the TB-2: A Rising Drone Superpower and its associated podcast, with Karen Kaya The Dawn of the Loitering Munitions Era, by proclaimed Mad Scientist SGM Daniel S. Nasereddine Top Attack: Lessons Learned from the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War and its associated podcast, as well as Sooner Than We Think: Command Post Survivability and Future Threats and its associated podcast, both with COL John Antal (USA-Ret.) Insights from the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict in 2020 (Part I and II) “Once More unto The Breach Dear Friends”: From English Longbows to Azerbaijani Drones, Army Modernization STILL Means More than Materiel, by Ian Sullivan. Jomini’s Revenge: Mass Strikes Back! by proclaimed Mad Scientist Zachery Tyson Brown How Big of a Deal are Drone Swarms?, A New Age of Terror: The Future of CBRN Terrorism, and A New Age of Terror: New Mass Casualty Terrorism Threats, by proclaimed Mad Scientist Zachary Kallenborn Through Soldiers’ Eyes: The Future of Ground Combat and its associated podcast The Future of Ground Warfare and its associatedpodcast, with proclaimed Mad Scientist COL Scott Shaw Character of Warfare 2035 Ground Warfare in 2050: How It Might Look, The Intelligent Battlefield of the Future, and its associated podcast with proclaimed Mad Scientist Dr. Alexander Kott Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Army, Army Futures Command (AFC), or Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC).

Full show notes at the publisher

85. Do You Have What It Takes? Let's Check Your Brain! with Mr. Loran Ambs Sep 14, 2023

Show notes

[Editor’s Note: Army Mad Scientist has extensively explored how Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) can be harnessed to enhance our Warfighters’ ability to fight at machine speed and sustain our decisive Soldier overmatch. But as frequent contributor COL Stefan J. Banach (USA-Ret.) has noted, the evolution and convergence of technologies has added a new non-kinetic battle space to conventional warfare, which in turn requires the recruiting and retention of adaptive Warfighters, with highly-tuned aptitudes for tactical innovation and rapid, decisive decision-making. The challenge facing the Army is how to effectively identify and then screen for these and other requisite talents.

Today’s episode of The Convergence podcast features our interview with Mr. Loran Ambs, Chief Technology Officer, Ideal Innovations, Inc., regarding his company’s research into measuring the distinctive characteristics of innate talent, identifying potential high performers, and how the Army can harness AI/ML to screen and match these high performers with specialty vocations — Read on!]

Mr. Loran Ambs serves as the Chief Technology Officer forIdeal Innovations, Inc. He supports the development and implementation of innovation processes at I-3 and DoD customer sites. Mr. Ambs participates in the conception, development, and transition of technical solutions for problems affecting operations of the DoD and intelligence communities. He conducts basic and applied research into techniques using measures of brain activation for the discovery of traits, aptitude, knowledge, interest, familiarity, group association and compatibility applied to selection and assessment of individuals for in military, government, academic and commercial environments. Mr. Ambs is inventor or co-inventor of more than 30 issued U.S. patents including several related to brain activation matching, brain matched compatibility, and knowledge discovery.

Mr. Ambs previously served as the on-site PM in Afghanistan for the installation and operation of stand-off biometric data collection, remotely operated ISR systems, wireless data communication, data fusion, aggregation and presentation capabilities leading to increased safety and effectiveness of our soldiers and coalition partners. He served as the Chief Scientist for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) in which he participated in the identification, acquisition, development, test, and transition of solutions for the detection, neutralization, and mitigation of IEDs. He collaborated with the DoD Service branches, DoD labs, National Labs, operational units, Congressional staffers, Defense Science Board, Army Science Board, National Academies, JASONS, industry, and academic institutions to focus the Nation’s resources on defeating IEDs.

Army Mad Scientist sat down with Mr. Ambs to discuss his company’s research into measuring the distinctive characteristics of innate talent, identifying potential high performers, and how the Army can harness AI/ML to screen and match these high performers with specialty vocations (e.g., pilots, special operators, and other select duty positions). The following bullet points highlight key insights from our conversation:

Training is expensive – it costs $13 million to train one F-35 pilot – so devoting resources to personnel who are not suited to a specific competency or MOS is wasteful. Looking at a prospective trainee’s brain activation response, and comparing the results to a successful pilot can identify those who are more likely to complete the training successfully.
Brain activation response through Electroencephalogram (EEG) is inexpensive, highly portable, and well understood. Other methods like Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) may provide higher detail and fidelity, but it’s not practical for each trainee to sit through an FMRI scan. Multiple EEG headsets can be administered to trainees quickly and unobtrusively to gather data.

Ambs’ method was used with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regimentto find a signature or baseline with which to compare their trainee data. Using a group of highly specialized aviators was deliberate in order to find a signature that would be vastly different from the general population.

The data processing and pattern recognition powers of AI/MLcan be harnessed to “crunch” EEG scan data to correlate brain activation responses and help identify signature markers for aptitudes associated with specialty vocations.

Beyond identifying aptitudes for specific trainings or vocations, creating a large library of brain activation responses allows for comparisons to be made and outliers to be recognized. This means no brain scan goes unused, and personnel can be grouped even if conducted for a different training.

Brain activation response monitoring is dynamic. If successful, this technology and method of evaluation could transcend Army Professional Military Education (PME) and trainingand be used to identify specific aptitudes in the Government writ-large, academia, and the private sector.

This is not designed to exclude or deny anyone training. It is designed to assist in identifying innate capabilities and align strengths and weaknesses with the best opportunities for success. It is one piece of data at a more granular levelto help decision-makers make better decisions.

Stay tuned to the Mad Scientist Laboratory for our next episode of The Convergence podcast on 28 September 2023.

If you enjoyed this post, check out the following related content:

It’s All In Your Head: How The Brain Makes Better Soldiersand associated podcast, with Zach Schonbrun

Go with the Flow: Enhancing Human Cognitionand associated podcast, with Dr. Maria Kozhevnikov

Making Quick Decisions, Quicker! and associated podcast, with proclaimed Mad Scientist Jason Sherwin

The Future of Learning: Personalized, Continuous, and Accelerated

Fight Club Prepares Lt Col Maddie Novák for Cross-Dimension Manoeuvre, by then LTC Arnel David, U.S. Army, and Major Aaron Moore, British Army, along with their interview in UK Fight Club – Gaming the Future Army and associated podcast

The Last Frontier, by PFC Peter Brenner

>>>>ANNOUNCEMENT: The U.S. Army War College is preparing for the Third Annual Strategic Landpower Symposium on 7-9 May 2024.

Last year’s Second Annual Strategic Landpower Symposium included several general officer speakers. GEN Flynn, CG, USARPAC, was our Keynote speaker; GEN Hokanson, Chief, National Guard Bureau, was a guest speaker; and LTG Bernabe, CG, III Corps, was our Capstone speaker among seven other general officer speakers and panelists. Videos of this event can be found here and on the Strategic Landpower Symposium website.

Last year, we received 26 papers from the military academic community, including several submissions from foreign allied and partner officers and were able to select eight for publication through Marine Corps University Press. These selected papers are in the final stages of publication and will be available at the 2024 Strategic Landpower Symposium.

Check out the Call for Papers flyer for next year’s symposium, providing the event’s themes, proposed abstract submission guidelines/suspense, and paper submission guidelines/ suspense. For additional information about the Symposium, click here.

84. The AI Study Buddy at the Army War College Part 2 with Dr. Billy Barry Aug 31, 2023

Show notes

[Editor’s Note: Regular readers of the Mad Scientist Laboratoryand listeners to The Convergence podcast know that our Pacing Threat — China — is feverishly modernizing its People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In addressing the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on October 16, 2022, China’s President Xi Jinping stated that quickly elevating the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to a world-class army is a strategic requirement, and that China would adhere to the integrated development of the PLA through the concept of “three-izations” (三化) — mechanization, informatization, and intelligentization — the latter being China’s concept for integrating Artificial Intelligence’s (AI’s) machine speed and processing power to military planning, operational command, and decision support. Xi further stated that these three-izations were to be pursued simultaneously and in parallel. Consequently, it behooves us to better understand how, in the words of Dr. James Mancillas, “AI will disrupt our current military decision cycles… [and] shape the future of AI enabled military operations.” That said, understanding the limits imposed by our adversaries’ embrace of AI is just as important as appreciating how AI can help sustain and enhance our Warfighters’ overmatch — possibly allowing us to exploit the constraints wrought by an adversary’s overreliance on AI to our advantage. Today’s episode of The Convergence podcast is the second in our The AI Study Buddy at the Army War Collegeseries, featuring Dr. Billy Barry discussing AI study technology, its impact within the Army War College, and how he sees it evolving in the future — Read on!] [If the podcast dashboard is not rendering correctly for you, please click hereto listen to the podcast.] Dr. Billy Barry is a Professor of Emerging Technology and Principal Strategist of the Artificial Intelligence/Intelligence Augmentation (AI/IA) Program (GovCon) for the Center for Strategic Leadership at the United States Army War College. Before working at the Army War College, Dr. Barry was a visiting professor of Philosophy and Just War Theory at the United States Military Academy at West Point. A pioneer in Human-AI/IA teams, he is the first to introduce AI-powered intelligent augmentation androids, robots, digital virtual beings, and strategic advisors as teaching and learning partners in civilian university and Professional Military Education classrooms. A sought-after TEDx and international keynote speaker, Dr. Barry’s influence extends to Fortune 500 companies and global leadership symposiums and conferences. His current research interest centers on non-invasive brain-computer interfaces, driving the conversation on ethical technology interactions. His contributions to academia and industry establish him as a leading authority on the future of human relationships with emerging technology. Army Mad Scientist sat down with Dr. Billy Barry to discuss AI study technology, its impact within the Army War College’s curriculum at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and how he sees it evolving in the future to enhance Professional Military Education (PME) across the Army’s Learning Enterprise. The following bullet points highlight key insights from our conversation: Human involvement is our advantage.Completely automated decision-making presents a number of inherent problems – narrow AI technology is not meant to replace human thought, but rather augment it. Dr. Barry explores this principle through what he calls an AI-powered cognitive asset that partners an intelligence augmentation (IA) system with a human student. We tend to think about artificial intelligence as a tool, but Barry sees AI as a partner — since 2017, he’s never taught a class without an IA/AI entity co-teaching with him.The students are free to ask the entity questions independent of Dr. Barry’s instruction, and Dr. Barry can ask the entity for help on subjects with which he is less familiar. Barry’s research originated as a project to capture institutional knowledge from contemporary Senior Military Leaders. By interacting with the system, a digital “thought twin” can be created that is a reasonable facsimile of the original individual.It will represent their thoughts and expertise and can interact with users, students, and educators to preserve and replicate institutional knowledge that would otherwise perish with the retirement and subsequent demise of these Leaders. Recently, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) within the DoD created Task Force Lima to analyze and integrate generative AI tools such as large language models (LLMs) across the DoD.This is the first step in combining technical expertise and novel use cases to help build better, integrated capability across the DoD as opposed to duplicative, disjoined, and redundant efforts across the Services. AI and LLMs are democratized technologies, available to allies and adversaries alike. While we will use IA/AI assets as decision advisors, other autocratic countries, like China, may require strict adherence to guidance received from these automated systems, relying less on the human who can add context and nuance and instead taking the computer’s answer as a verbatim certainty. Understanding this could enable our Warfighters to “game” our adversaries’ automated OODA loop, allowing us to spoof or “poison” the data flowing into their sensors’ feeds and thus shape their responses to our tactical, operational, and strategic advantage. Education is now a national security issue.Automation within education will have a positive impact on many administrative tasks and can produce enough quality material to pass most classes. Educators will now have to adapt to ensure their students’ coursework contains enough distinction and nuance to perplex AI systems, but not human students. Stay tuned to the Mad Scientist Laboratory for our next episode of The Convergence podcast on 14 September 2023, featuring our discussion with Loran Ambs, Chief Technology Officer for Ideal Innovations, Inc., about his company’s research in measuring the distinctive characteristics of innate talent, identifying potential high performers, and how the Army can harness AI/ML to screen and match these high performers with specialty vocations (e.g., pilots, special operators, and other select duty positions). If you enjoyed this post, check out the China Landing Zonecontent on the TRADOC G-2‘s Operational Environment Enterprise public facing page — including the BiteSize China weekly topics, ATP 7-100.3, Chinese Tactics, People’s Liberation Army Ground Forces Quick Reference Guide, and more! … and explore the following related Army Mad Scientist content: China’s PLA Modernization through the DOTMLPF-P Lens, by Dr. Jacob Barton “Intelligentization” and a Chinese Vision of Future War How China Fights and associated podcast, with seven world-class SMEs The AI Study Buddy at the Army War College (Part 1) and associated podcast, with LtCol Joe Buffamante, USMC Hey, ChatGPT, Help Me Win this Contract! and associated podcast, with LTC Robert Solano Chatty Cathy, Open the Pod Bay Doors: An Interview with ChatGPT and associated podcast One Brain Chip, Please! Neuro-AI with two of the Maddest Scientists and associated podcast, with proclaimed Mad Scientists Dr. James Giordano and Dr. James Canton Where Creativity Meets Combat: Exploring the USC ICT and associated podcast, with Dr. Keith Brawner and Dr. Bill Swartout The Future of Learning: Personalized, Continuous, and Accelerated Arsenal of the Mind presentation by proclaimed Mad Scientist Juliane Gallina, Director, Cognitive Solutions for National Security (North America) IBM WATSON, at the Mad Scientist Robotics, AI, and Autonomy — Visioning Multi-Domain Battle in 2030-2050 Conference, hosted by Georgia Tech Research Institute, Atlanta Georgia, 7-8 March 2017 Artificial Intelligence: An Emerging Game-changer Takeaways Learned about the Future of the AI Battlefield and associated information paper The Guy Behind the Guy: AI as the Indispensable Marshal, by Brady Moore and Chris Sauceda Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Military Operations, by Dr. James Mancillas Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence “Own the Night”and the associated Modern War Institute podcast, with proclaimed Mad Scientist Bob Work Bringing AI to the Joint Force and associated podcast, with Jacqueline Tame, Alka Patel, and Dr. Jane Pinelis AI Enhancing EI in War, by MAJ Vincent Dueñas The Human Targeting Solution: An AI Story, by CW3 Jesse R. Crifasi Bias and Machine Learning An Appropriate Level of Trust… How does the Army – as part of the Joint force – Build and Employ Teams to Compete, Penetrate, Disintegrate, and Exploit our Adversaries in the Future?

Full show notes at the publisher

83. Shattering the Mirror: The Key to Understanding Adversarial Decision-Making with LTC Nathan Colvin Aug 17, 2023

Show notes

[Editor’s Note: Sunday morning’s tropical idyll was shattered as the adversary’s surprise attack caught our naval, ground, and air forces completely unprepared. An hour and a half later, more than 2,400 U.S. Service members and civilians had been killed, with almost another 1,200 wounded. Despite three missed tactical warnings that could have alerted our local defenses of the impending attack (perhaps reducing its effectiveness), senior Army and Navy leaders on-site remained blithely unaware until the first wave of attackers struck their primary targets — as were the Nation’s political and military leadership in Washington, DC, when they received news of the catastrophic attack. Collectively, we had been lulled by perhaps the most insidious of cognitive biases — mirror imaging — believing that the Japanese Empire wanted to avoid war with the U.S. at all costs because of our perceived military superiority.

“Mirror imaging occurs when we subscribe our beliefs or ideas to other competitors. A corollary to this mirror imaging idea is the concept of railroading where we assume that other competitors, for example, are developing technology at similar pace and along the same track that we are. Mirror imaging places a premium on the notion that our way is the only way – discounting history and organizational, strategic, geographic, and cultural differences – as well as dismissing ideas that others might have.” As Dr. Nick Marsella statedso eloquently, “Thinking about the future is hard work, requiring us to continually examine the rigor associated with these efforts and avoiding the cognitive biases inherent in our future’s work. ”

Gaming is an invaluable tool for adding rigor to our exploration of Operational Environment possibilities – it also helps us to identify and avoid our cognitive biases. Frequent contributor LTC Nathan Colvin recently used game theory to explore the dynamics affecting three principal “actors” – the transnational “liberal order” (i.e., the West), the diffuse aggregate needs of the Russian people (a society of individuals), and the individual needs of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin himself (as an autocratic leader) — to clinically explain the rationale underlying the superficially irrational invasion of Ukraine. Today’s post features highlights from our latest episode of The Convergence podcast with LTC Nathan Colvin discussing game theory and how it can provide insights into the pitfalls of mirror imaging our rationality and morality onto foreign leaders’ decision-making processes — Read on!]

LTC Nathan Colvin is currently an Army War College Fellow at the College of William and Mary. He holds a Graduate Certificate in Modeling and Simulations from Old Dominion University, where he is also completing his Ph.D. in International Studies as an I/ITSEC Leonard P. Gollobin Scholar. He earned masters’ degrees in Aeronautics and Space Studies (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University), Administration (Central Michigan University), and Military Theater Operations (School of Advanced Military Studies). He is an Army Strategist and former Aviator with deployments to Eastern Europe, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan.

Army Mad Scientist sat down with LTC Nathan Colvin to discuss game theory and how it can provide insights into the pitfalls of mirror imaging our rationality and morality onto foreign leaders’ decision-making processes. The following bullet points highlight key insights from our conversation:

We tend to view rationality through the lens of our own value set – mirror imaging– which can often lead to unintended bias when viewing decision-making. If rationality is simply thought of as a social construct, where each culture has a different “good” and “bad,” it is possible to understand actions as rational in a logical sense,even though the actor and observer may not hold the same value set.
Analyzing a situation using a two-state model is outdated and does not consider the interests and values of other actors, such as leaders and domestic audiences, that influence decision-making. LTC Colvin developed athree-player game theory model that separates Vladimir Putin from the Russian state, highlighting Putin’s personal value set that does not necessarily align with the state’s.
In social science, mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative data) is the most powerful research approach. Quantifiable data, when it exists, is useful — however, human nature is extremely hard to quantify and requires the use of other types of logic, such as the Likert Scale, to capture an actor’s response to their environment.
The game theory model is not meant to be predictivebut helps produce a roadmap that illuminates possible futures. It is more of a sense-making orientation that acts as a framework to facilitate thinking through a problem and describing actions that would typically seem irrational.
In addition to acknowledging the pitfalls of mirror imaging, other important tools for a Red Team perspective include critical thinking, cultural awareness and empathy, problem reframing, stake-holder mapping(specifically network connections), the five why’s, and the Delphi technique (comparing multiple SMEs’ opinions to find variations).

Stay tuned to the Mad Scientist Laboratory for our next episode of The Convergence podcast on 31 August 2023 when we’ll feature part two of our interview exploring the AI Study Buddy at the Army War College with creator Dr. Billy Barry — discussing AI study technology, its impact within the Army War College, and how he sees it evolving in the future.

If you enjoyed this post, read LTC Nathan Colvin’s recent posts Your Adversary is Rational, Just Not the Way You Want Them to Be and What Happens If Great Powers Don’t Fight Great Wars?

… explore the TRADOC G-2‘s Operational Environment Enterpriseweb page, brimming with information on the Operational Environment and our how our adversaries fight. If you have a Common Access Card, you’ll be especially interested in our weekly Russia-Ukraine Conflict Running Estimates, capturing what we are learning about the contemporary Russian way of war in Ukraine and the ramifications for U.S. Army modernization across DOTMLPF-P — access them all here…

… and check out the following related Mad Scientist:

The Exploitation of our Biases through Improved Technology, by Raechel Melling

Insights from Ukraine on the Operational Environment and the Changing Character of Warfare

On Surprise Attacks Below the “Bolt from the Blue” Threshold by Lesley Kucharski

Why the Next “Cuban Missile Crisis” Might Not End Well: Cyberwar and Nuclear Crisis Managementby Dr. Stephen J. Cimbala

Some Thoughts on Futures Work (Part I) by Dr. Nick Marsella

Gaming the System: How Wargames Shape our Future and associated podcast

Using Wargames to Reconceptualize Military Power, by proclaimed Mad Scientist Caroline Duckworth

Gamers Building the Future Force and associated podcast, with Capt Zach Baumann, Capt Oliver Parsons, and MSgt Michael Sullivan

>>>>REMINDER: AFGFR Vignette Writing Contest — Our Sister Service partners in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) are proud to present the Air Force Global Futures Report: Joint Functions in 2040, published by Headquarters Air Force A5/7 (aka Air Force Futures). This report is the USAF’s analogue to the U.S. Army Futures Command’s AFC Pamphlet 525-2, Future Operational Environment: Forging the Future in an Uncertain World 2035-2050.

The AFGFRhighlights four future operating environments and major implications for the future force. To bring these operating environments to life, Army Mad Scientist is partnering with the Air Force Futures’ Foresight Team to conduct the AFGFR Vignette Writing Contest — based on the report’s four futures and the exploration of the Joint Functions. We are seeking vignettes with characters that make the future operating environments and associated Joint Functions within come to life!

The AFGFR Vignette Writing Contest is open to all — anyone can submit an entry. Entries should be between 1500-2500 words in length, and are due NLT 01 September 2023. To learn more about the contest and how to submit your entry(ies), click >>>> here <<<< and read the contest flyer!

82. The AI Study Buddy at the Army War College with LtCol Joe Buffamante Jul 27, 2023

Show notes

[Editor’s Note: In recent weeks, Mad Scientist Laboratory has featured a number of podcasts and associated blog posts exploring the democratization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential ramifications for Warfighters and the Operational Environment (OE). From generating better proposals from a broader array of defense contractors, exploring the future of warfare and OE trends, the convergence of neuroscience and AI, and the future of learning through emerging technologies — large language models (e.g., Open AI‘s ChatGPT) can augment how we learn, work, create, and — most importantly to the U.S. Army — compete and fight.
Imagine a not-too-distant future when all of our Military Leaders (from platoon to echelons above corps) are able to harness the comprehensive thoughts and insights of the world’s military theorists and tacticians, from antiquity to the present, via a personal AI digital assistant — or as proclaimed Mad Scientist Juliane Gallina so eloquently stated — a “Patton in the Pocket.” Human-machine teaming has the potential to enable future Commanders to focus on the battle at hand with coup d’œil, or the “stroke of an eye,” maintaining situational awareness and processing inputs, generating potential courses of action, and down selecting the best way ahead — tailored to specific mission objectives and conditions at the bleeding edge of the fight — all at machine speed. Sustained Soldier overmatch indeed!

The application of Soldier-enhancing human-machine teaming isn’t limited to tactical applications, however. In today’s episode of The Convergence podcast, we interview LtCol Joe Buffamante, USMC, about his experience in applying human-machine teaming to support Professional Military Education (PME), leveraging large language models as effective learning support tools, and establishing and maintaining trust in AI applications — Enjoy!]

LtCol Joe Buffamante is a native of Great Valley, New York, and graduated from Miami (Ohio) University, receiving his commission in the United States Marine Corps in May 2003. Upon completion of The Basic School, he was designated an Armor Officer and graduated from the Armor Officer Basic Course in May 2004. He has commanded USMC units in combat tours to both Iraq and Afghanistan, and has served as a maneuver and fire support team instructor at 29 Palms, California. LtCol Buffamante assumed the duties as Chief of Readiness for Joint Task Force Civil Support (JTF-CS), Ft. Eustis, Virginia, in 2014, ultimately serving as the training chief for current operations where he was responsible for training all Joint Operations Center personnel. Following completion of this Joint assignment, LtCol Buffamante attended the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, earning a Master’s Degree in Defense and Strategic Studies. He also attended the Maritime Advanced Warfighting School (MAWS) and received the additional MOS of 0505 (MAGTF Planner). LtCol Buffamante is currently a student at the United States Army War College (AWC) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Army Mad Scientist sat down with LtCol Buffamante to discuss his experience in applying human-machine teaming to support PME, leveraging large language models as effective learning support tools, and establishing and maintaining trust in AI applications. The following bullet points highlight key insights from our conversation:

• As a student at the AWC, LtCol Buffamante, along with Dr. Billy Barry, used a large language model as a learning support tool to explore the effectiveness of human-machine teaming research, specifically the effectiveness of the system itself and in collaboration with a human vice a human alone.

• LtCol Buffamante employed the system to assist in answering research questions related to his coursework. He coordinated with his professors to hand in three products for each assignment – AI produced, AI and human produced, and human produced – without his professors knowing who the author was.

• The AI-Human team produced the highest quality products — better than AI or human alone — and received the best grades from AWC professors. This further supports the centaur theory that AI alone may not be as transformative as we think and the need for a human agent to steer the system and add context is still apparent.

• There were some drawbacks to AI-Human teaming noted by LtCol Buffamante:

• In its current state, the large language model used is not accessible remotely. If students want to use it, they must be physically in the room with the system.

• Trust is still an issue. Users are unsure where the system gets its information, and are therefore less trusting of the answers provided.

• The machine relies on a corpus of pre-screened information and cannot listen to or follow an active conversation. Relying solely on historical data precludes it from providing decision support in certain time-sensitive or dynamic environments.

• The future of this technology will be tailorable, customizable, and based on a dynamic corpus of data. The system could also be tailored to respond to queries from the perspective of a U.S. Army G3 or a PLA G3. Specialization, vice generality is where these systems add value to existing Army processes and functions.

Stay tuned to the Mad Scientist Laboratory for our next episode of The Convergence podcast on 17 August 2023, featuring our discussion with frequent guest blogger LTC Nathan Colvin on game theory and how it can provide insights into the pitfalls of mirror imaging our rationality and morality onto foreign leaders’ decision making processes.

81. Where Creativity Meets Combat: Exploring the USC ICT with Dr. Keith Brawner and Dr. Bill Swartout Jul 13, 2023

Show notes

"We found that people systematically were more willing to reveal confidential or sensitive information to a virtual human than to a real person"

[Editor’s Note: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an emerging game-changer technology for our Warfighters — as Dr. James Mancillas espoused in a previous post, “AI systems offer the potential to continue maximizing the advantages of information superiority, while overcoming limits in human cognitive abilities.” Former Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work stated at the Mad Scientist Disruption and the Operational Environment Conference, co-sponsored by The University of Texas at Austin in 2019, that this is an “Own the Night Moment for the United States Army” — the Army (and TRADOC) must embrace and rapidly incorporate AI across the force.

One such AI application is enhancing Army learning and training. The Army will not only have to incorporate AI as a subject in its Professional Military Education (PME) — ensuring our Soldiers and Leaders have the requisite AI literacy — it has the opportunity to utilize AI in augmenting Field Training Exercises, Home Station Training, and Combat Training Center rotations to expose and prepare our Warfighters for the second and third order effects resulting from the compressed battle rhythms wrought by AI.

In today’s episode of The Convergence podcast, we interview Drs. Keith Brawner and Bill Swartout from the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies (USC ICT) — a DoD-sponsored University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) focused on immersive technology, simulation, human performance, computer graphics, AI, and narrative — about the Center for Generative AI and Society within ICT, their research into large language models, and their vision of the future of training through emerging technologies. Enjoy!]

Dr. Keith Brawner is the Program Manager of the Institute for Creative Technologies University Affiliated Research Center (ICT UARC) for the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, as managed by the U.S. Army DEVCOM Soldier Center, where he is also the lead for AI initiatives. He is a research leader in intelligent tutoring systems with over 100 publications in research/ application of simulation and training technologies.

While he manages the ICT at the University of Southern California, he works at the SFC Paul Ray Smith Simulation and Training Technology facility in Orlando, Florida. He has worked on, or contributed to, systems which train land navigation, marksmanship, hovercraft operation, destroyer decision making, physics, UAV route planning, calling for indirect fires, submarine harbor navigation, sonar system operation, helicopter flight, counterinsurgency, and many others. His current research focus is on enhancing simulations, the realism within simulations, the behaviors of simulated characters, and the creation of human behavior change. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Central Florida. He earned an MS and Ph.D in Computer Engineering while working full-time for the Navy (Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division) and Army (Army Research Laboratory), respectively. He is the recipient of the National Training and Simulation Association Governors award (2nd highest honor) and the UCF Alumni 30 under 30 award.

Dr. William Swartout is a research professor in the Computer Science Department at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and Chief Technology Officer at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, providing overall direction to the institute’s research. Dr. Swartout was also recently named Co-Director of USC’s Center for Generative AI and Society. In 2009, he received the Robert Engelmore Award from the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) for seminal contributions to knowledge-based systems and explanation, groundbreaking research on virtual human technologies and their applications, and outstanding service to the AI community.

Dr. Swartout is a Fellow of the AAAI, has served on their Board of Councilors, and is past chair of the Special Interest Group on Artificial Intelligence (SIGART) of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). He has served as a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, the Board on Army Science and Technology of the National Academies, and the JFCOM Transformation Advisory Group. Prior to helping found the ICT in 1999, he was the Director of the Intelligent Systems Division at the USC Information Sciences Institute. Dr. Swartout received his Ph.D and MS in Computer Science from MIT and his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University. He has been involved in cutting edge research and development of AI systems throughout his career.

In this latest episode of The Convergence podcast, we sit down with Drs. Keith Brawner and Bill Swartout from the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies (USC ICT) to talk about the Center for Generative AI and Society within ICT, their research into large language models, and their vision of the future of training through emerging technologies. The following bullet points highlight key insights from our conversation:

• The Institute for Creative Technologies within the University of Southern California was formed in 1999 as the DoD took notice of significant advancements in video game technology. The simulations from the commercial video game industry were outpacing those developed by the military and doing so at a lower price point. ICT was established to create a closer relationship between the DoD and the entertainment industry to leverage those tools, ideas, creativity, and resources.

• The Center for Generative AI and Society is a newly formed research organization within USC that endeavors to explore the impact that generative AI and related fields have on society and how we can best use these emerging technologies to advance humanity. Dr. Swartout’s research focuses on generative AI and education – viewing this technology as a tool similar to the advent of the calculator. Education in the future will use generative AI for research and writing, with students’ evaluations being based on the entire process vice solely their end product.

• AI is widely viewed as one of the things that will help us sustain overmatch over our near peer adversaries, but most people in the general workforce know very little about it. There is a very real need for increased AI literacy not only for AI programmers but for those who are going to be managing AI systems.

• Research at ICT has shown that people respond to virtual humans in much the same way that they respond to real people but there are some key differences. People felt safer and more comfortable revealing sensitive information to a virtual human.

• Training, education, and Leader development in the military will have to adapt. The key skills taught will remain enduring, however the method of consumption, instruction, and delivery will continue to change, as it has across the ages — from clay tablets, to books, to online videos. Future PME may consist of computer-generated customized learning paths tested on simulated students with on-demand learning content.

Stay tuned to the Mad Scientist Laboratory for our next episode of The Convergence on 27 July 2023, when we’ll interview LtCol Joe Buffamante, USMC, about human-machine teaming, leveraging large language models as effective learning support tools, and establishing and maintaining trust with your personal AI assistant.

If you enjoyed this post, check out the following content:

Chatty Cathy, Open the Pod Bay Doors: An Interview with ChatGPT and associated podcast

Artificial Intelligence: An Emerging Game-changer

Takeaways Learned about the Future of the AI Battlefield and associated information paper

The Guy Behind the Guy: AI as the Indispensable Marshal, by Brady Moore and Chris Sauceda

Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Military Operations, by Dr. James Mancillas

“Own the Night”and the associated Modern War Institute podcast with proclaimed Mad Scientist Bob Work

Achieving an AI-era Workforce by 2025: A Modern, Scalable Approach to Retooling the United States (and its Army!)by Ted Hallum

The Language of AI and associated podcast, with Michael Kanaan

AI Across the Enterpriseand associated podcast, with Rob Albritton

Bringing AI to the Joint Force and associated podcast, with Jacqueline Tame, Alka Patel, and Dr. Jane Pinelis

AI Enhancing EI in War, by MAJ Vincent Dueñas