Space Force Chief Scientist Predicts AI-Augmented Human Soldiers

Article by Adam Smith                                                April 30, 2021                                               (independent.co.uk)

• During a recent online event at the Airforce Research Laboratory, the US Space Force’s chief scientist, Dr Joel Mozer, said that “human augmentation” is “imperative” in order for it to maintain military dominance. There will be “unimaginable” advances made over the next decade in areas including artificial intelligence, that would make the military able to strategize tactics that “no human could”, said Dr Mozer. “’Today, we’re on the brink of a new age: the age of human augmentation.”

• Future battle commanders will have multiple autonomous agents at their disposal, each able to control reconnaissance, fire control, or attack. “You could put [a soldier] into a ‘state of flow’, where learning is optimized and retention is maximized,” Dr Mozer said. “This individual could be shaped into somebody with very high-performing potential.” But ultimately, “autonomous” programs will advise commanders in real time.

• Human augmentation, meanwhile, will eventually develop into technologies including augmented and virtual reality, as well as “nerve stimulation” to better simulate physical sensations. Gene editing, physical and cognitive prosthesis and pharmaceutical enhancement could offer “profound expansion of the boundaries of human performance. [T]he application of these technologies and the integration of human and machine on the battlefield present opportunities to enhance military capability”.

• “Whilst it is envisaged that humans will continue to be central to the decision-making process, conflicts fought increasingly by robots or autonomous systems could change the very nature of warfare, as there will be less emphasis on emotions, passion and chance,” a 2018 UK Ministry of Defence report states. “The business of [drone] operators is to kill”, says philosopher and cultural critic Laurie Calhoun. Humans will serve merely as “ethical cover”, providing a moral framework for what is essentially a mechanical job.

• There is already a tight relationship between humans and machines in military conflicts. The concept of a “feedback loop” was developed during the Second World War. In the years since, “smart bombs” and drone strikes requiring human-machine interaction have become common. “In our business of national defense,” says Dr Mozer, “it’s imperative that we embrace this new age, lest we fall behind our strategic competitors.”

• [Editor’s Note]   And the Borg begins.

Actually, as with nearly everything else, the existing secret space programs operating from our planet and throughout our solar system are already doing it. Super soldiers are routinely issued ‘smart suits’ that perform every function, from enhanced strength and metabolism to protection and the ‘absorption and removal’ of bodily waste. Each soldiers’ vital functions are monitored from a central computer. SSP pilots actually pilot and navigate their smart ships through a neural-consciousness interface. It is true that this human enhancement technology is inevitable, at least at the military level, so the question is how far should it go before the soldier is more machine than human? What price will humanity pay by allowing unchecked, widespread transhumanism?

The US Space Force’s chief scientist has said that “human augmentation” is “imperative” in order for it to maintain military dominance.

‘In the last century, Western civilization transformed from an industrial-based society to an information-based society, but today we’re on the brink of a new age: the age of human augmentation,’ said Dr Joel Mozer, during an event at the Airforce Research Laboratory.

“‘In our business of national defense, it’s imperative that we embrace this new age,

lest we fall behind our strategic competitors.”

There will be “unimaginable” advances made over the next decade in areas including artificial intelligence, that would make the military able to strategise tactics that “no human could”. Eventually “autonomous” programs will advise commanders in real time, Dr Mozer also said. The Independent has reached out to the armed service to confirm these quotes.

Commanders and decision makers will have multiple autonomous agents at their disposal, each able to control reconnaissance, fire control, or attack. Human augmentation, meanwhile, will eventually develop into technologies including augmented and virtual reality, as well as “nerve stimulation” to better simulate physical sensations.

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