There is no shortage of American military services in the adoption of artificial intelligence to generate better mission results – and one of the greatest things by holding them is that their staff really do not understand what IA is and what it can do for them, a panel of senior officials said on Tuesday.
“It is not that people are afraid of technology – they simply do not understand how technology can work for them,” said Colin Crosby, US Marine Corps data manager, during the Uipath on Tour Public Sector event, produced by FEDSCOOP. “And until we can communicate this more effectively to the organization, to individuals, then you will find challenges.”
The Crosby point was echoed by his colleagues on the panel representing the Navy, the Coast Guard and the Defense Logistics Agency, who said he had had trouble presenting the realities of the AI in the military context.
“We need to demystify AI,” said Adarryl Roberts, DLA information director. With so much media threshing and excitement placed around technology, it is often made to be a “monolithic unicorn”, while in reality, it is “just another tool which is a multiplier of strength”, he added.
But by demystifying AI, managers can make it “simple enough” so that the wider military workforce understands how it works and for which it can be used, Roberts said.
Captain Dan Rogers, assistant chief of data and AI officer for the American Coast Guard, said that the best way to open the eyes of military staff to what IA is really to give them a little taste to have them hung.
“I think the best way to demystify is to give people samples,” said Rogers, saying that it is no different from a chick-fil-a sample or a potato butt. “You will want the whole bag once you start to taste these things.”
These are people who become early adopters and then become defenders of the propagation of the adoption of AI in an organic way.
“The organic movement is actually a much more effective way to sell this organization than to bring someone and speak in this kind of nebulous [terms] For example, “we need the company’s data to make better decisions,” said Rogers. “I mean, Duh, but what does that mean?”
