How to Cooperate with Intelligent Machines: Lessons for Defence Operations from the Integration of AI and Robotics across Multiple Domains

摘要

In the early years of Artificial Intelligence (AI) research, scientists envisioned AI as embodied in a robot. Since then, the fields of AI and robotics diverged and mostly developed separately. Thanks to rapid developments and recent scientific breakthroughs in both fields, there are many upcoming applications where the integration of AI and robotics leads to great added value. In this article, we investigate the opportunities of integrated AI and robotics for the Defence domain. Based on recent scientific developments, we introduce the concept of a Non-human Intelligent Collaborator (NIC), an intelligent artificial team member with social and collaborative skills. We explore new applications of integrated AI and robotics across multiple domains, from agriculture to warehousing. The domains reveal a variety of problem characteristics, offering valuable lessons from the solutions presented, which can be translated to the Defence domain. We focus on the behavioural impact of deploying NIC-human teams on conducting future operations.