DARPA Taps AI to Link Troops and Military Machines via Their Brain

It remains to be determined how artificial intelligence will affect our society as a whole. The wildest theories have been making the rounds in that regard. One major point of concern is the increasing automation of weaponry. It now seems the Pentagon is looking to let humans control machines through their brain waves.

Using AI for Machine Control

Every time any military force gets involved in potentially groundbreaking technological research, there is a cause for concern. While it is futile to always picture doom scenarios rather the possibilities, one has to admit automated weaponry is pretty scary. That situation grows even worse when military agencies look into using AI to let humans control machines with their brain.

Although this concept is not entirely new, it has never been put to the test either. There has always been some excitement and curiosity regarding telekinesis and psychokinetic powers. While it is a very rare phenomenon, no one has been able to “train” humans to achieve this goal in a successful manner. That situation may come to change if the Pentagon is successful in its research.

To put this in perspective, the Pentagon has a keen interest in artificial intelligence. No big surprise there, as this technology can have many different sorts of impact on people’s daily lives. What they are exploring specifically, however, will make a lot of people uneasy. Using Ai to link troop’s minds and bodies to military systems sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie.

The ultimate goal of this research is to build AI into neural interfaces. In doing so, they hope to let human soldiers control, feel, and interact with machines via a remote connection. It will make the machines a proverbial extension of the soldier’s body, without putting the human at real risk.

Additionally, the research teams partaking in this project will attempt to build an AI-powered interface capable of stimulating artificial signals. More specifically, they aim to explore how to create a sense of burning without heat. As such, it would optimize the information content coursing through the soldier’s major nerves. It will require a fair bit of research before such a goal can even be realized.

For now, there is no official hard date as to when this research is expected to be completed. Several teams are currently looking into the matter and building their idea. Proposals to partake in this research can be submitted until March 4. From that date, there will be an 18-month period to build a working prototype, which is then thoroughly tested for an undefined amount of time.