Project Maven: Bringing Killer Robots To A Country Anywhere In the World

GRAPHIC CREDIT from the US Dept of Defense 
The logo was presented by Jack Shanahan of project maven and was worked on by senior level officials

When I consider the ways my country has deeply offended my spiritual values I think back to the firebombing of Dresden, the dropping of the atomic weapon on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, getting in a "war" in Vietnam under false pretenses (Gulf of Tonkin lie), attacking Iraq under false pretenses (the Colin Powell yellow cake uranium lie) and the idiotic notion that we could defeat Afghanistan (a country nicknamed the graveyard of empires -- Britain, Russia and now the US are on that list).  And then there is the war with Iran (or is it an excursion, a skirmish, or a love tap).  

However, while these acts violated international law and the rules of war, and basic human dignity, the place we are heading is far darker. A few years back Leigh Strimbeck shared a one woman play at the Meeting house about the emotional toll it took on drone pilots (operating from cubicles in the Nevada desert) to kill from afar.  At the time many Quakers felt this was a kind of killing that was far too easy.  More like a video game than actual warfare. 

Where we are going is the elimination of the messy work of killing.  is the world of AI directed autonomous weapons.  And yes, you guessed it, Uncle Sam is at the forefront of it.   

It's called Project Maven. AKA Algorithmic Warfare Cross Functional Team and abbreviated AWCFT

Project Maven is a United States Department of Defense initiative launched in 2017 to accelerate the adoption of machine learning and data integration across U.S. military intelligence workflows, specifically in intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance as well as in geospatial intelligence. (now you know why we have a 5th branch of the military aka Space Force) 

It initially focused on applying computer vision for processing images and videos for intelligence purposes. Currently, the program operates under the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and encompasses multiple applications across the Department of Defense spanning military operation targeting support, data integration and visualization for analysts, and training machine learning models on labeled datasets of military assets and infrastructure. It integrates data from drones, satellites, and other sensors to flag potential targets, present findings to human analysts, and relay their decisions to operational systems.

The program originated under Deputy Secretary Robert O. Work after he raised concerns about China's advances in defense applications of artificial intelligence. Project leaders, Colonel Drew Cukor, USMC, and Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, framed the program as human-in-the-loop decision support inside the Department of Defense rather than as an autonomous weapons platform.

The notion of a "human in the loop" is a lie.  Sec of Defense Hegseth as recently designated Anthropic a "supply chain risk" because the company would not agree to allow their AI, Claude, to be used for so called "unrestricted use" which is another way of saying the technology specifically targets the removal of corporate guardrails that prevent AI from being used in fully autonomous lethal operations—essentially systems that can "kill without a human in the loop".

And what, do you ask, is all this AI going to cost?  Estimates range from 1 billion to 1.3 billion.  And who is getting that money?  Amazon web services, Google, Open AI, Palentir, Microsoft, SpaceX, and Anduril plus a bunch of others you've never heard of (on purpose). 

There are many who seem to think that AI will be a benevolent force for good in the world.  To that I say we have a Nobel Peace Prize that is funded on the backs of millions of souls killed by dynamite.  One person is chosen for a peace prize at the same time many thousands are killed.  There is an argument to be made for human control over this stuff, but realistically it won't happen.  The US is now in a digital arms race with other countries.  And while Iran's autonomous drones are slow and can be shot down by US fighter pilots, that will not be the case for long.  

WE NEED AN INTERNATIONAL MORATORIUM ON AUTONOMOUS LETHAL DRONES YESTERDAY
STEPS YOU CAN TAKE NOW: 

• complain to your state and federal representative that you don't want killer drones 
• stop supporting companies that build this tech or the ones that process the data
• stop allowing half of your tax dollars to be drafted into an increasingly intrusive war machine. 

The other consideration we have to think about is that these weapons will eventually make their way into US policing. Consider S.W.A.T teams and the use of military hardware in their operations. We already have Flock Surveillance Cameras in Troy, Valatie, Philmont and Hudson.  That State Trooper behind you is using a plate reader and knows everything about the car and the driver before the lights go on.  

But even given all the intrusive, invasive and wholly unconstitutional work of Project Maven (and out local towns) ... at least the robots are cute ): 

~Joseph Olejak