Senior intelligence officials this week highlighted the increasing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in improving situational awareness, but also underscored the need to thoroughly assess potential risks and limitations before fully embracing AI tech.
During the 2024 AFCEA/INSA Intelligence & National Security Summit on Aug. 28, CIA Deputy Director David S. Cohen explained that AI has the capability to assist analysts in sifting through mountains of data to create useful situational awareness.
“We can leverage models trained on open-source data to enhance our capabilities. Utilizing this data to train and run models creates a significant advantage for the intelligence community that our adversaries lack,” Cohen said.
This could be particularly advantageous in classified networks, he explained.
“As we consider these possibilities, we should work aggressively to integrate AI into our classified networks,” Cohen said.
Gen Timothy D. Haugh, who heads the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, explained that AI is increasingly helping analysts focus “on the right piece of information.”
“It accelerates them to the right piece of information, and then gives them tools to go seek other information,” Haugh said. “Our architecture has developed various tools, often based on natural language processing, which we have extensively researched and refined in collaboration with industry experts.”
FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate said that “AI has been and will continue to be instrumental in defending against adversaries.”
But AI also is a double-edged sword. While AI tools offer a significant advantage to the intelligence community in defending against adversaries, it has also allowed less sophisticated criminal actors to up their games.
“It’s increased the numbers of those out there that are engaging with criminal activities. It’s involved those who are already engaging it to increase their level,” Abbate said.
Like Abbate, Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth, director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), warned against viewing AI through rose-colored glasses. He called for a pragmatic approach, urging caution against overly optimistic expectations and emphasizing the need for practical, grounded strategies.
“Idealists might have you think it’s going to be perfect,” Whitworth said. He advocated for a “realistic” approach to AI, emphasizing the importance of practical application and community-wide collaboration.
“When we start talking about AI, I think what you’re going to see is, from a community perspective, a collaboration with how we learn those tools in a way that allows us to be more community-wide,” he said.
