Long before generative AI’s boom, a Silicon Valley firm contracted to collect and analyze non-classified data on illicit Chinese fentanyl trafficking made a compelling case for its embrace by U.S. intelligence agencies.
The operation’s results far exceeded human-only analysis, finding twice as many companies and 400% more people engaged in illegal or suspicious commerce in the deadly opioid.
Excited U.S. intelligence officials touted the results publicly — the AI made connections based mostly on internet and dark-web data — and shared them with Beijing authorities, urging a crackdown.
One important aspect of the 2019 operation, called Sable Spear, that has not previously been reported: The firm used generative AI to provide U.S. agencies — three years ahead of the release of OpenAI’s groundbreaking ChatGPT product — with evidence summaries for potential criminal cases, saving countless work hours.
We’ve got a serious fucking problem if this is true. I’m an AI advocate. I think it’s a great toy and tutor. I use it on a near daily basis. But it is not reliable. It’s not trustworthy. The fact that businesses and military and the intelligence community are using it for anything important is utterly insane.
Like, this is a cool toy. A ouija board is a fun toy and sometimes gives us answers that make us think, but we don’t use it to pick military targets. I can’t wait for the hysteria about AI from both sides to die down.
I agree with your take. I don’t think it’ll die down though. This is just 1.0, unfortunately. It’ll only build from here.
They already let it fly an F-16. I agree it’s far too early to be taking leaps of faith in this space.
That’s not generative AI… it’s not really the same thing. The US military has been using machine learning for like 6 decades by this point and AI for 7, and it’s been a part of anti-air tracking / ballistics computers for a while. Many modern military vehicles have relied a LOT on AI for a really long time, at least when it comes to weapons systems (targeting and ballistics especially) and important warning systems. Plus AI is pretty important for the US military’s logistics.
It’s an extremely important technology for the military to research, even in scenarios where it’s far before it’s really “ready” for practical use, in this case replacing human pilots with AI.
How can an embrace be wary? If it’s done warily, it’s not an embrace. Was the headline written by AI?
