Insider Q&A: CIA's chief technologist's cautious embrace of generative AI
Knowledge advantage can save lives, win wars and avert disaster. At the Central Intelligence Agency, basic artificial intelligence – machine learning and algorithms – has long served that mission. Now, generative AI is joining the effort.
CIA Director William Burns says AI tech will augment humans, not replace them. The agency’s first chief technology officer, Nand Mulchandani, is marshaling the tools. There’s considerable urgency: Adversaries are already spreading AI-generated deepfakes aimed at undermining U.S. interests.
A former Silicon Valley CEO who helmed successful startups, Mulchandani was named to the job in 2022 after a stint at the Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center.
Among projects he oversees: A ChatGPT-like generative AI application that draws on open-source data (meaning unclassified, public or commercially available). Thousands of analysts across the 18-agency U.S. intelligence community use it. Other CIA projects that use large-language models are, unsurprisingly, secret.
Related articles
Six killed in a 'foiled coup' in Congo, the army says
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Six people were killed and dozens arrested following attacks on the residence2024-05-21Immigration declines nearly half of study visa applications from India so far this year
Immigration New Zealand said it had turned down about a quarter of applications to polytechnics and2024-05-21Snake entangled in fridge ice dispenser spotted by resident who thought hissing was air compressor
The snake had become trapped in the ice dispenser. Photo: Supplied / Facebook / Adelaide Hills Snake2024-05-21EDITORIAL: Food labeling review inevitable following Benikoji scare
The issue of food safety is again in the news following reports that people died after ingesting a d2024-05-21Burglar hurled stolen mobile phones at police from the top of 60ft high roof during nine
A burglar hurled stolen mobile phones at police officers from the top of a roof during a nine-hour s2024-05-21EDITORIAL: Here we go again; another pledge by LDP to reform itself
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s convention on March 17 buzzed with powerful phrases, such as t2024-05-21
atest comment