Are AI Professionals Actually Unwilling to Work for the Pentagon?
A CSET survey finds a more nuanced situation than public perception might indicate.
By Catherine Aiken and Margarita Konaev
November 30, 2020 01:42 PM ET
When Google employees protested their company’s work on Project Maven in 2018, their public letter against the company’s involvement in “the business of war†drew attention to the idea of a "culture clash" between the tech sector and the U.S. Department of Defense. A tense, adversarial relationship makes headlines — but how many AI professionals are actually unwilling to work with the U.S. military?
Recent research by the Center for Security and Emerging Technology, a policy research organization within Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, suggests a more nuanced relationship, including areas of potential alignment. A CSET survey of 160 U.S. AI industry professionals found little outright rejection of working with DOD. In fact, only 7 percent of the surveyed AI professionals working at U.S.-based AI companies felt extremely negative about working on DOD AI projects, and only a few expressed absolute refusal to work with DOD.
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2020/11/are-ai-professionals-actually-unwilling-work-pentagon/170359/