Picture this: You show up to work, but instead of asking your colleague how their day is, a futuristic robotic vehicle is at your command. This is the Department of Defense’s vision for troop-helping technology on the battlefield. The end goal is for robots to act as artificial intelligence “teammates” for the Army. 
This technological vision is compatible with the Army’s growing interest in AI-enabled machines, yet despite all of the money going into developing the technology itself, there is little evidence to show the machines interacting well with humans. This is a crucial factor in the feasibility of robotic vehicles in the Army. Research into the military’s AI investments found a critical lack of examination of human-machine trust, which may lead to an inevitable downfall of the DOD’s quest for utilizing AI on the battlefield. In the next stages, there is a requirement for soldier-robot interaction that “soldiers must touch the equipment,” Maj. Gen. Ross Coffman said during a virtual event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Continue reading about the soldiers getting more consistent practice with new robotic vehicles with FedScoop’s article here.
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