In January, the Pentagon updated its decade-old guidance on “Autonomy in Weapon Systems.” What does the revised policy mean for how the Department of Defense thinks about its remote planes, guns, and bombs, and how is DoD grappling with technological advances from Silicon Valley and around the world? On February 22, we hosted a discussion with Dr. Michael Horowitz, Director of the Emerging Capabilities Policy Office at the Pentagon. In conversation with Dr. Alice Hunt Friend, IST’s VP for Research and Analysis, Dr. Horowitz offered insights into DoD’s thinking about autonomy, AI, and other military applications for advanced technologies—and how DoD is creating the policy foundation now to allow for innovations of the future.
