Neurala Named in CB Insights’ AI 100 List

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a frequently-used buzz word in the UAV industry. As true AI continues to evolve, its influence on the commercial UAV industry will be significant: Boston-based deep learning neural networks company Neurala has been included in CB Insights’ Artificial Intelligence 100 list, a ranking of the 100 most promising private AI companies in the world.

Neurala has developed The Neurala Brain, ”a deep learning neural network software that makes smart products like cameras, robots and drones more autonomous and useful,” says the company. “Neurala uses a bio-inspired approach to mimic the way the human brain learns and analyzes its environment.” Neurala has made a name in the UAV industry over the last few years because the Neurala Brain is “edge” AI technology, meaning it can continue learning and refining algorithms from a UAV.

The possibilities range from inspections of energy installations, for example, where the Neurala Brain might be able to learn specific signs of concern, to the more dramatic and interesting: Neurala’s Brain has been used on UAVs in Africa to differentiate poachers from roaming animals at night, notifying personnel who are able to take action in protecting wildlife. “This is a fitting end to a big year for Neurala, and it is an honor to be included in this prestigious list,” said Massimiliano “Max” Versace, co-founder and CEO of Neurala in a company announcement. “2018 will be the year for learning on the edge and building a super brain. We are excited to be leading the charge, poised and ready to transform industries, and excited to take part in changing the world for the better through artificial intelligence.”

China: ¿Smart killer robots?

A recent report by Accenture Technologies suggests that by 2035 Artificial Intelligence (AI) might add as much as 1.6 percentage points to China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The researchers at Accenture argue that to yield maximum economic benefits from AI, China needs to use it as an additional factor of production, relying on AI for intelligent automation, labor and capital augmentation and innovation diffusion.

Analysts from other institutions also support such claim: PricewaterhouseCoopers projected that by 2030 global GDP could increase by $15.7 trillion, with almost half of these gains coming from China. PwC estimates that AI will account for a 26 percent GDP boost, or $7 trillion, in China in the next 13 years.

However optimistic these economic projections sound, rapid development of AI in the PRC might also bring about significant challenges to freedom and security, both in China and beyond: Chinese companies are barely constrained by legal issues over data collection and users’ privacy. They can freely use the data of China’s 750 million internet users, match photos and personal IDs and then train facial recognition algorithms and other types of neural networks on large datasets.

Currently the Chinese government not only does not restrict the uses of personal data by domestic tech giants such as Tencent, Baidu and Alibaba, but actively uses their resources to surveil Chinese citizens: Beijing has successfully used advanced facial recognition systems to analyze data from millions of cameras to track down law violators. On the one hand, this might help police to catch criminals faster. But on the other hand, and bearing in mind that China is more rapidly than any other country moving towards becoming a surveillance state where no one can hide from the government, the AI can also be used to censor online environments and identify people who spread “sensitive” information online. Through the use of the AI, any news considered "not good enough" for the government could be censored automatically as it gains steam, and then relaxed after the storm has passed. And there would be almost no trace that it had ever happened. Applying these techniques to the internal affairs, the possibility of implanting an Smart Dictatorship could be enormous.

Regarding military uses of AI, the U.S. is already alarmed about China potentially using AI for that purposes: In February, Elsa B. Kania, an analyst with The Long Term Strategy Group at the Aspen Institute, testified before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army has reportedly begun incorporating AI into unmanned weapon systems, including UAVs and UUVs: “The Chinese defense industry has likewise made significant progress in its research and development of a range of cutting-edge unmanned systems, including those with supersonic, stealth, and swarming capabilities, but appears to face continued challenges in UAV engines, data links, and sensors,” she said. Of course, U.S. still has an advantage in terms of AI development, but China is catching up fast: Given the amount of resources available in China for the AI development, chances are Beijing will be able to fulfill its goal of becoming the industry leader by 2030.

Micro-UAVs 4.0 for Warfare 4.0

It’s hard to believe how far we’ve gone: Now the AI (Artificial Intelligence) does all of the work thanks to accurate, fast, small and unstoppable micro-UAVs:

China three year nationwide AI action plan: Smart UAVs

All levels of China’s government and all Chinese industries will work together on a three year AI (Artificial Intelligence) action plan, focused -among other smart things- on smart UAVs able to perform intelligent obstacle avoidance, automatic cruise, autonomous flight for complex environment, group work and other key abilities. The 12 page document is quite specific and can be found through this link:

http://www.miit.gov.cn/n1146295/n1652858/n1652930/n3757016/c5960820/part/5960845.docx

UAVs 4.0: ¿Making war easier?

The world is becoming saturated with UAVs, and the technology that underpins these systems is only expected to become more sophisticated.

Next-generation UAV technology (UAVs 4.0) now in development includes: 

• Additive manufacturing for bulk production
• Advanced materials for enhanced stealth and smaller size
• Energy storage, solar powered systems and satellite-based communications
• Automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning

Advances in AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning could lead to small UAVs that communicate with each other as a cognitive hive mind with the capability to swarm targets, leaving kinetic air defenses with too many targets to engage.

At the same time, advances in nanotechnology could lead to UAVs that mimic birds or insects, such as the Black Hornet, which could be capable of stealthy, close-quarter audio, video and possibly even DNA-sample intelligence collection. More disruptively, these nano-UAVs could engage in highly targeted killings through the injection of poison or self-destruction.

Both software and hardware are at the core of UAVs 4.0 but the physical limitations inherent in hardware do not apply to software, which is more diffuse and rapidly adaptable: Programming UAVs to remain on a “leash,” following warfighters wherever they go, or with the ability to loiter over a designated area and automatically find, fix and engage threats on their own, has tactical implications for war, particularly in the urban battlefield of the future replete with infrastructure that provides concealment for enemy forces.

Last but not least: The introduction of armed UAVs permanently altered the modern battlefield, and new technological advances in UAV technology (UAV 4.0) could do it again: from advanced materials that allow UAVs to fly, roll, run or swim in less forgiving environments, to thinking software than makes them more independent, to stealth technology that renders them even less visible. On the positive side, the intelligence that UAVs provide helps focus lethality on the intended target and limit the risk of civilian casualties and friendly fire incidents. But on the negative side, non-state actors will be able to employ them as well, giving insurgents or terrorists an outsized advantage: “While small drones can be a hazard domestically, their threat to the warfighter is growing as well. Footage of weaponized drones being used by ISIS provides a disturbing glimpse into the group’s Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs), and the future of asymmetric warfare. We have seen ISIS-controlled drones drop precision bombs on compounds, destroy armor and kill soldiers. And as dangerous as they are now, the lethality of drones will only increase as other nations and non-state actors refine their technology and TTPs.” (Deborah Lee James, former Secretary of the U.S. Air Force)

Industry 4.0 and the Evolution of Small, Smart, and Cheap Weapons

Dramatic improvements in Robotics, AI (Artificial Intelligence), AM (Additive Manufacturing, also known as 3D Printing), and Nanoenergetics are dramatically changing the character of conflict in all domains.

The convergence of these new and improving technologies is creating a massive increase in capabilities available to smaller and smaller political entities — extending even to the individual.

This increase provides smaller powers with capabilities that used to be the preserve of major powers. Moreover, these small, smart, and cheap weapons based on land, sea, or air may be able to dominate combat.

This new diffusion of power has major implications for the conduct of warfare and national strategy. Because even massive investment in mature technology leads to only incremental improvement in capabilities, the proliferation of many small and smart weapons may simply overwhelm a few exceptionally capable and complex systems.

The advances may force the United States to rethink its procurement plans, force structure, and force posture. The diffusion of power will also greatly complicate U.S. responses to various crises, reduce its ability to influence events with military force, and should require policymakers and military planners to thoughtfully consider future policies and strategy.

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