Artificial Intelligence (Formerly Emerging Technology) May 31, 2019

Emerging Technology Industry Study

2019 Antonelli Award Winner: This paper provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities that emerging technology has for the United States (U.S.) National Security and for national competitive advantage. Emerging technology comes from innovation and research in universities, government research labs, and private industry. New technology has always been central to the Department of Defense (DoD), and, traditionally, much of the new technology was developed throughout the government, giving the DoD early and direct access to the most cutting-edge technological advances. What has changed recently is that emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), is now being developed and adopted first by private companies for the commercial market. Meanwhile, as the DoD struggles to identify, adopt, and field emerging technology to warfighters, China’s civil-military fusion policies provide its military direct access to new technology. This paper examines the implications of the U.S.’s and China’s contrasting approaches to innovation. To innovate while proactively protecting and preserving the existing system, the U.S. should work with allies and partners to invest in education and vocational training; promote policies to encourage technology clusters; promote business-friendly regulations; and use national security requirements to encourage innovation for defense applications. Simply put, it is imperative that the U.S. establishes and maintains an AI advantage in order to ensure favorable and sustainable conditions for technological innovation.