美国军事探索利用人工智能寻找隐藏的核导弹

US Military Exploring Use of Artificial Intelligence to Find Hidden Nuclear Missiles

The United States military is reported to be increasing spending on a secret research effort involving artificial intelligence (AI).

The Reuters news agency says military officials are exploring whether they can use AI to help predict the launch of a nuclear missile. Officials hope that, with the help of computer programs, they will be able to follow and target mobile launchers in North Korea and other places.

The effort has gone largely unreported. The few public details about it are buried in complex language in the latest defense¹ department budget. But Reuters spoke² with U.S. officials with knowledge of the research. They said the military now has several projects to explore how to develop AI systems to protect the country against a possible nuclear missile strike.

If the research is successful, such computer systems would be able to ‘think’ for themselves, reproducing³ intelligent human behavior. AI programs could study huge amounts of information, including satellite imagery, faster than human beings and find signs of preparations for a missile launch.

Reuters says its story about the secret research is based on at least six sources. They included U.S. officials, who spoke on condition that they would not be publicly identified.

If the U.S. government had information about a possible missile launch, it would be able to seek a diplomatic⁴ solution. If the government believed there would be an attack, it would have more time to try to destroy the missiles before they were launched, or try to shoot them down.

“We should be doing everything in our power to find that missile before they launch it and make it increasingly harder to get it off (the ground),” one of the officials said.

President Donald Trump⁵ and his administration support the research effort. The administration plans to increase spending to $83-million in next year’s budget for just one of the AI-powered missile programs, according to U.S. officials and budget documents.

The budget increase shows the growing importance of research on AI-powered anti-missile systems. It comes at a time when the United States faces a more militarily aggressive Russia and a serious nuclear threat from North Korea.

One person with knowledge of the programs said it includes a project aimed at North Korea. The U.S. government is worried about the North’s development of mobile missiles that can be easily hidden.

While the project is secret, the military has been clear about its interest in AI. The Defense Department has said it is using AI to identify objects from video gathered in its drone aircraft program.

Yet some military officials are worried about AI spending. They say the current amount is too low.

AI arms race

The U.S. military is in a race against China and Russia to add more AI to its war machine. Officials want to create new systems that can teach themselves to perform complex actions.

The Pentagon’s research on using AI to identify possible missile threats and follow movable launchers is very new. It is also just one small part of the growth of AI. But few details have been made public.

A U.S. official told Reuters that the military was already testing an early model of a system to follow mobile missile launchers.

The project involves military and private researchers in the Washington D.C. area. It is making use of new technology developed by private businesses. Those companies got financial assistance from an investment fund called In-Q-Tel, officials said.

The project is using the intelligence community’s cloud service, studying how computer data is organized. It operates complex radar⁶ that can see through storms and greenery.

Budget documents seen by Reuters show the Pentagon will expand the program to “the remainder⁷ of the (Pentagon) 4+1 problem sets.”

The U.S. military often uses the term ‘4+1’ when talking about China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and terrorist⁸ groups.

Turning turtles into guns

Both supporters and critics of using AI to hunt missiles agree that it carries a lot of risk. It could speed up decision-making in a nuclear crisis⁹, but the use of computers could also increase the possibility of computer errors. It might also start an AI arms race with Russia and China that could overturn¹⁰ the current nuclear balance.

The top commander of U.S. nuclear forces, Air Force General John Hyten said the Pentagon must create safeguards¹¹ when AI systems become operational. This will be the only way to make sure that humans – not computers – control nuclear decisions, he explained.

The decision to use nuclear weapons has been called the “escalation¹² ladder.”

“[Artificial intelligence] could force you onto that ladder if you don’t put the safeguards in,” Hyten said. “Once you’re on it, then everything starts moving.”

Experts at the RAND Corporation and other research groups say it is likely that China and Russia would learn to hide their missiles from identification¹³.

There is some evidence that says they could be successful.

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, students tricked the AI system by using Google images. The computer program was made to believe that a plastic turtle was really a gun.

Dr. Steven Walker, director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), said the Pentagon will need humans to look at AI decisions.

“Because those systems can be fooled,” Walker said.

DARPA is working on a project to make AI systems better able to explain themselves to human researchers. DARPA officials believe the new project will be important for national security programs.

We can’t be wrong

Among the people working to improve AI is William “Buzz” Roberts of the National Geospatial Agency (NGA). He works in the government’s efforts to develop AI to help examine satellite imagery. Information from satellite imagery is used by missile hunters.

Last year, the NGA said it used AI to look at 12 million images. So far, Roberts said, NGA researchers have made progress in getting AI to help identify whether or not a target of interest is present. He would not talk about individual programs.

In trying to understand possible national security threats, the NGA researchers work under a different kind of pressure from researchers in private businesses.

“We can’t be wrong,” said Roberts.

I’m Susan Shand, and I'm Dorothy Gundy.

Words in This Story

artificial – adj. not natural or real

mobile – adj. able to be moved

source – n. someone or something that provides what is wanted or needed

according – adv. as stated by or in

fund – n. a plan or program

error – n. a mistake or problem

cloud – n. the large computers (called servers) that you can connect to on the Internet and use for storing data

escalation – n. to become worse or to make (something) worse or more severe

ladder – n. a series of steps or stages by which someone moves up to a higher or better position

turtle – n. a reptile that lives mostly in water and that has a hard shell which covers its body

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 reproducing   

复制( reproduce的现在分词 )； 重现； 再版； 生殖

参考例句：

• Mind has become self-reproducing through man's capacity to transmit experience and its products cumulatively. 通过传递生活经验和积累创造的产品，人类的智慧在不断地进行着自我丰富。
• Spores form a lipid membrane during the process of reproducing. 孢于在生殖过程中形成类脂膜。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器

4 diplomatic   

adj.外交的，从事外交的，策略的，有手腕的

参考例句：

• There are certain forms that must be followed in diplomatic circles.在外交界有一些礼节是必须遵守的。
• You must be more diplomatic in handling the situation.你在处理这一情况时，必须圆滑。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

7 remainder   

n.余下的部分，剩下的人数

参考例句：

• They joined up with us to spend the remainder of the holiday.他们来跟我们一起共度余下的假期。
• He spent the remainder of his years in Japan.他在日本度过了余生。

8 terrorist   

n.恐怖主义者，恐怖分子

参考例句：

• Without the gun,I'm a sitting duck for any terrorist.没有这支枪，我就成了恐怖分子下手的目标了。
• The district was put on red alert during a terrorist's bomb scare.这个地区在得到恐怖分子炸弹恐吓后作了应急准备。

9 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

10 overturn   

v.推翻决定、结果等，翻倒，倾覆，使...翻倒

参考例句：

• Some high-ranking officers plotted to overturn the government.有几名高级军官策划推翻政府。
• We saw the canoe overturn,throwing its passengers into the water.我们看到独木舟倾覆了，把上面的乘客掀入水中。

11 safeguards   

防护措施，安全设施( safeguard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We will introduce legal safeguards against fraud. 我们将推行防止欺诈的法律条款。
• There is a price to be paid for maintaining these safeguards. 维持这些防范措施是要付出代价的。

12 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

13 identification   

n.视为同一，证明同一，确认

参考例句：

• He's made a formal identification of the body.他正式确认了死者身份。
• We should have identification card on the person when we go out.我们外出时应随身携带身份证。