DISA Chief Technology Officer Says Pentagon’s AI Investments Paying Off

The Defense Information Systems Agency’s chief technology officer said artificial intelligence and large language models can improve the Department of Defense’s operational and analytical capabilities.

Speaking at DISA’s Forecast to Industry 2023 event, Steve Wallace shared that the Pentagon’s investments in AI and LLMs are already paying off as the emerging technologies are being used in parts of the department’s government cloud environments. He added that the DOD’s commercial partners are also integrating more AI into their platforms, which means the department is ultimately adopting the technology as they procure new solutions.

AI and LLM integration could help the DOD’s personnel ingest and analyze more data and enhance internal processes. The Pentagon is also working to introduce safety measures for the technologies, Nextgov/FCW reported Monday.

The U.S. government at large has increased its AI usage over recent years, having generated over 700 use cases in recent years.

According to information generated from the AI .gov database, the the departments of Energy and Health and Human Services disclosed over 150 use cases each while other agencies submitted less than 50 use cases.

Lynne Parker, an AI expert under former President Donald Trump, said collating AI use cases allows the government to identify trends and improve how officials understand the technology.