How will the continued advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) impact the handling and management of future national security crises? This is what a recent study published in the Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management hopes to address as a sole researcher from Virginia Commonwealth University investigated how AI could influence decision makers within the Emergency Management and Homeland Security sectors. This study has the potential to help scientists, legislators, and the public better understand AI’s influence on everyday life and the steps we can take to mitigate the risks of relying on AI too much.
For the study, Dr. Christopher Whyte, who is an Associate Professor in Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government & Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, conducted an experimental study involving AI-simulated threats and just under 700 national security personnel from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Slovenia to gauge how the latter reacted to the former. The participants were separated into three simulation groups: human-only hackers, hackers assisted by AI, and predominantly AI.
In the end, Dr. Whyte found that participants in the predominantly AI group often hesitated and questioned their training compared to those of the other two groups. Additionally, Dr. Whyte found participants who disliked AI exhibited less hesitation to act compared to those who supported AI, overall.
“People have variable views on whether AI is about augmentation, or whether it really is something that’s going to replace them,” said Dr. Whyte. “And that meaningfully changes how people will react in a crisis.”
This study comes as AI continues to increase its presence in national security, including cybersecurity, intelligence gathering, predictive algorithms, facial recognition, combating misinformation, and autonomous systems. As AI continues to advance and evolve, this study could help legislators and national security professionals take appropriate steps to ensure AI can be used for the right purposes while working establishing protocols in dealing with AI threats.
How will AI influence crisis management in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, EurekAlert!, U.S. Government Accountability Office
