Pentagon launches pilot program that will use AI to manage sensitive information – DefenseScoop

Pentagon launches pilot program that will use AI to manage sensitive information  DefenseScoop

The Pentagon is launching a pilot program that will use AI to manage its classification processes and handling of sensitive military information. The Pentagon is launching a pilot program that will use artificial intelligence to manage its classification processes and handling of sensitive military information, according to a memorandum reviewed by DefenseScoop and sources familiar. Within the next six months, the department will start an “initial small-scale deployment of an automated security classification capability” intended to “overhaul” the way the department classifies info, according to a memorandum issued Monday by Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg. The DOD will use an AI-backed system the Air Force recently developed, known as the Automated Classification Management Environment (ACME), for the trial program while tapping the service’s top civilian official as the executive agent for the pilot.

If the pilot is successful, according to the memo, the automated system will eventually serve as “the single, digital authoritative reference” for all of the DOD’s original classification decisions, a responsibility historically reserved for specially designated human officials who determine how sensitive information is categorized. Feinberg’s directive comes amid deep public concerns over the use of AI, which has evaded human oversight in several high-profile incidents over the last few months, setting off a recent firestorm of calls to regulate the disruptive technology. At the same time,