Press Releases

Dunn Artificial Intelligence Amendment Included in Defense Authorization Bill

House Passes Dunn Amendment on A.I. at Defense Department

Jul 11 2019

WASHINGTON, DC – Last night, the House passed Congressman Neal Dunn’s (FL-02) amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) aimed at protecting the Department of Defense from cyber warfare as they implement new Artificial Intelligence technologies. Dunn introduced the amendment as the Future Defense Artificial Intelligence Technology Assessment (DATA) Act in May of this year. Specifically, the amendment instructs the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to Congress regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence in the Department of Defense.

“Technology is rapidly evolving and becoming more important for us to understand as we work to keep our nation safe from foreign threats,” said Dr. Dunn. “Cyber warfare is a real and tangible threat as our military and defense department work to implement new Artificial Intelligence technologies. This important legislation will work to ensure that all necessary precautions are taken when implementing new artificial intelligence technologies at the Department of Defense.”

Elements of the required report include:
• How much DoD is using Artificial intelligence
• Identification of data necessary to identify the above point
• How the Secretary plans to protect systems that use A.I. from bad actors or attempts by any individual that wishes to misrepresent or misuse the information provided by A.I.
• The expected benefits of using A.I. in the Armed Forces for the next 20 years
• Analysis as to how A.I. will help to improve the Armed Forces multi domain operations
• Identification of ethical guidelines the department plans to operate under
• Secretary’s plan to ensure collaboration amongst the department, academia, industry and national laboratories for RDT&E, contracting, acquisition, and onboarding of A.I. Tech
• Allows the Secretary to collaborate with industry, stakeholders, other federal agencies, and think tanks to prepare the report
• Instructs appropriate committees for the report to be provided

The House is expected to vote on the NDAA later this week.

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