Understanding artificial intelligence and how it relates to matters of national security has become a priority for military and government leaders in recent years. A new three-day custom program titled “Artificial Intelligence for National Security Leaders,” AI4NSL for short, aims to educate leaders who may not have a technical background on the basics of AI, machine learning, and data science, and how these issues intersect with national security.
“Homeland security is fundamentally about two things: getting information from sensors and processing that information. These are two things that AI excels at. The AI4NSL class engages national security leaders in understanding how to navigate the benefits and opportunities that AI offers, while also understanding its potential negative consequences,” says Aleksander Madry, professor of cadence design systems at the MIT and one of the faculty directors of the course.
Jointly organized by the MIT School of Engineering, the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman School of Computing, and MIT Sloan Executive Education, AI4NSL wrapped up its fifth class in April. The course draws leaders from all branches of the US military, as well as some foreign military leaders from NATO, to the MIT campus, where they learn from faculty experts on a variety of technical topics. in AI, as well as how to navigate the organizational challenges that arise in this context.
“We set out to put together a real AI executive education class for senior national security leaders,” says Madry. “Over three days, we are teaching these leaders to not only understand what this technology is all about, but also how to best adopt these technologies organizationally.”
The original idea came from discussions with senior US Air Force (USAF) leadership and members of the Department of Air Force (DAF)-MIT AI Accelerator in 2019.
According to Maj. John Radovan, Deputy Director of the DAF-MIT AI Accelerator, it has become clear in recent years that national security leaders needed a deeper understanding of AI technologies and their implications for security, warfare, and military operations. In February 2020, Radovan and his team at the DAF-MIT AI Accelerator began creating a custom course to help guide senior leaders in their discussions about AI.
“This is the only course that focuses on AI specifically for national security,” says Radovan. “We didn’t want to do this course just for members of the Air Force, it had to be for all branches of the military. If we’re going to operate as a joint force, we need to have the same vocabulary and the same mental models of how to use this technology.”
After a pilot program in collaboration with MIT Open Learning and the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Radovan connected with faculty from the MIT Schwarzman School of Engineering and the School of Computing, including Madry, to hone the course curriculum. They enlisted the help of colleagues and professors at MIT Sloan Executive Education to refine the class curriculum and tailor the content to their audience. The result of this collaboration between schools was a new version of AI4NSL, which was launched last summer.
In addition to providing participants with a basic overview of AI technologies, the course places a heavy emphasis on organizational planning and implementation.
“What we wanted to do was create intelligent consumers at the command level. The idea was to present this content at a higher level so that people could understand the key frameworks, which will guide their thinking about the use and adoption of this material,” says Roberto Fernández, William F. Pounds Professor of Management and one of the AI4NSL instructors, as well as the faculty director of the other course.
During the three-day course, instructors from MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the MIT Sloan School of Management cover a wide range of topics.
The first half of the course begins with a basic overview of concepts including artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and the role of data. Instructors also present the issues and dangers of using AI technologies, including the potential for adversarial manipulation of machine learning systems, privacy challenges, and ethical considerations.
In the middle of day two, the course shifts to examine the organizational perspective, encouraging participants to consider how to effectively implement these technologies in their own units.
“What is exciting about this course is the way that it is formatted first in terms of understanding AI, machine learning, what data is, and how data feeds AI, and then gives participants a framework to go back to their units and develop a strategy to do this work,” says Col. Michelle Goyette, director of the Army Strategic Education Program at the Army War College and an AI4NSL participant.
Throughout the course, breakout sessions provide participants with the opportunity to collaborate and problem-solve in an exercise together. These breakout sessions build on each other as participants are exposed to new AI-related concepts.
“The work sessions have been distinctive because they force you to build relationships with people you don’t know, so the networking aspect is key. Any time you can do more than receive information and really apply what you’ve been taught, that really enhances the learning environment,” says Lt. Gen. Brian Robinson, commander, USAF Air Education and Training Command and AI4NSL participant. .
This spirit of teamwork, collaboration, and bringing together people from different backgrounds pervades the three-day program. The AI4NSL classroom not only brings together national security leaders from all branches of the military, but also brings together faculty from three MIT schools.
“One of the most exciting things about this program is the overall collaborative kind of theme,” says Rob Dietel, director of executive programs at the Sloan School of Management. “We’re not just bringing in MIT Sloan faculty, we’re bringing in top faculty from the Schwarzman School of Computing and the School of Engineering. It’s wonderful to be able to leverage those resources that are here on the MIT campus to really make it the most impactful program that we can.”
As new developments in generative AI, such as ChatGPT, and machine learning alter the national security landscape, AI4NSL organizers will continue to update the curriculum to ensure it is preparing leaders to understand the implications for their respective units.
“The rate of change for AI and national security is so fast right now that it’s hard to keep up, and that’s part of the reason we designed this program. We have brought in some of our world-class professors from different parts of MIT to really address the changing dynamics of AI,” Dietel adds.
