Tech 101: Trustworthy AI

The Department of Defense (DoD)’s research and modernization priorities within artificial intelligence (AI) require transformative initiatives to ensure the United States remains at the cutting edge of technology. An important goal of DoD’s is to develop AI that is trustworthy, particularly when making life-or-death recommendations to warfighters. The 2023 Data, Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Adoption Strategy, which was developed by the Chief Digital and AI Office, builds upon and supersedes the 2018 DoD AI Strategy and revised DoD Data Strategy, published in 2020, which laid the groundwork for the department's approach to fielding AI-enabled capabilities. The U.S. has also introduced a political declaration on the responsible military use of artificial intelligence, which further seeks to codify norms for the responsible use of the technology. Trust and the ethical use of AI underpins DoD’s experimentation and deployment of AI-enabled capabilities. This presentation will define trustworthy AI, illustrate its importance, and describe how DoD and the defense industry are operationalizing trustworthy AI.