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ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md.—The Army is changing. At the Association of the United States Army annual exposition in mid-October, the theme was “Transforming for a Complex World” and leaders from across the enterprise detailed how and why this transformation is so essential. Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth, for example, detailed in her opening remarks the questions decision makers must pose when considering how to meet the inherent challenges of large-scale combat operations.
“Does this capability make our troops more lethal?”
“Does this fit into how we will fight in the future?”
“Does this program still make sense?”
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, who focused squarely on the Army’s “transformation in contact” initiative at the same event, stressed the world’s ambiguity and instability, and how the Army must respond.
“All of us—every leader, business executive, policymaker, ally and partner, Soldier, family and friend must have the same sense of urgency about transforming our Army to meet the needs of our nation,” George said.
At an exposition like AUSA, held annually in Washington, D.C. and coated with layers of high-level strategy, it can be easy to forget the tangible work that’s being done around the Army. However, roughly 70 miles north of Washington, at Aberdeen Proving Ground, the effort toward transformation and modernization is more than a messaging strategy.
The Communications-Electronics Command is one organization at APG interweaving the Army’s push toward transformative concepts into the fabric of new projects. One such project, developed with the help of industry leaders in the AI space, is A.I. Flow.
Built and managed by a team of Software and Data Engineers at the CECOM Software Engineering Center, the experimental program enables users by providing a tailored AI workspace based on their needs. With technical support from Microsoft Azure Government OpenAI infrastructure, the team behind the program is confident that they have created a service for the DoD that can transform how the Army executes its mission.
Piloting the program
A.I. Flow is currently operating in limited spaces by approved users. Before full release, the SEC team is offering the service to select engineering center personnel who use the program during their day-to-day work.
Chris Myers, CECOM SEC Technical Services director, has the unique perspective of seeing the potential of this program as both the supervisor of the team responsible, and as a user of the pilot program.
“The team has done a really great job with the user interface of it,” Myers said. “It goes a long way, as you use a web-based product like A.I. Flow, the usability and simplicity of what they’ve designed is key.”
The product is authorized to handle Controlled Unclassified Information, and because users will access the service with a Common Access Card, or CAC, the work they do using A.I. Flow is secure.
According to Myers, a secure, user-friendly interface that is inviting and easy to use will make all the difference.
Aside from his role as head of the directorate responsible for the service, Myers has also been using A.I. Flow during the pilot period. From this perspective, integrating the product into his work has made a meaningful impact.
“I have a number of examples where I’ve used the tool just to get some of my initial thoughts down,” Myers said. “Instead of wasting my brain power and racking my brain on different projects, I can throw all my thoughts in the chat [A.I. Flow] and let it hash it out for me.”
As users continue to mesh the program into their work, A.I. Flow will continue to improve. In addition to the data from the internal CECOM SEC users, the development team has integrated feedback from outside organizations.
U.S. Army Contracting Command - Aberdeen Proving Ground, tested A.I. Flow and evaluated their experience for the team at CECOM SEC. As the organization responsible for Army contracting and business support for eight competency areas, ACC-APG is a congruous testbed for a service like A.I. Flow.
Writing contracts is often tedious, repetitive, and heavily reliant on attention to detail. CECOM SEC worked with ACC-APG to set parameters, upload example documents, and create guidelines to build a justification and approval document, which is an integral piece of military contracting that is required for solicitations.
Given the correct files and instructions, A.I. Flow generated a J&A that was roughly 80% complete. A process that usually takes a team or individual days or weeks was done in minutes by the program.
“We’re very excited about the demos we’ve seen out of SEC,” said Katie Thompson, deputy executive director of ACC-APG. “The J&A tools will save thousands of manhours in our organization as well as our customer organizations on time spent creating and reviewing those documents.”
From Thompson’s perspective, as a leader in the realm of Army contracting, the otherwise bogged-down resources that are made available through using A.I. Flow makes a tangible difference.
“That’s real money, time and resources that can now be reallocated and spent elsewhere.” Thompson said.
The process behind the program
The A.I. Flow team has worked on the project for roughly a year. The core team consists of four CECOM SEC subject matter experts. Computer scientists Maluki Montgomery and Roy Trieu, Information Technology Specialist Ethan Eanes, and team lead Frank Frisby.
Frisby, a data scientist, has advocated for many A.I. efforts within SEC. Montogomery, Trieu, and Frisby have won several U.S. Army A.I. competitions under the moniker A.I. Avengers. Harnessing the power of A.I. to enable Soldiers and civilians is the driving force behind the A.I. Flow team.
Frisby knows the potential of the program, and the team has devoted themselves to making theoretical possibilities a reality.
“We want to build something for each user,” Frisby said. “When a team goes in to work on their projects, they have a custom experience based on their needs.”
This approach, building A.I. Flow as a service tailored to meet specific needs, is unchartered territory. Compared to similar platforms in development by military organizations, A.I. Flow will allow CECOM SEC, an organization traditionally responsible for software sustainment, to deliver an organic capability as a service.
As the team continues to gauge the pilot and receive feedback, they can adjust in real time.
The process loop between users and the team behind A.I. Flow creates an environment of continuous integration and continuous deployment; new cases are identified, fixed, and updates are pushed into the program.
Aside from the primary functions of the program, users can also track their performance and the advantages of using the tool. The metrics show resources saved, including time, cost, and return on investment.
On any given project, a user can produce an estimated report that shows how many hours and dollars were saved using A.I. Flow, allowing organizations to show the value added with simple statistics.
Ronald Rizzo, deputy executive director of CECOM SEC, anticipates that the program can change how organizations execute their work.
“Somebody comes to us and says they have a task that tends to be labor intensive or administratively burdensome,” Rizzo said. “They want to automate that as much as they can so their workforce can focus on creative endeavors.”
“This is generative A.I. as a service,” Rizzo said.
The impact of the program
In late October, the Biden Administration released the first-ever National Security Memorandum on Artificial Intelligence. The NSM outlines strategic goals for the responsible use of A.I. and the federal government’s role in achieving those goals.
The NSM identifies the Department of Defense as one of the pillars in support of harnessing safe, secure, and trustworthy A.I.
The Army’s transformation will rely on many things, including innovative improvements to processes.
As A.I. Flow continues the pilot, the program moves closer to full release. From those writing contracts to supervisors writing appraisals. From human resources officers writing new job information to miliary lawyers studying case law. When the service is available throughout the Army, the potential benefit, across nearly every profession, will be profound.
Myers, the CECOM SEC Technical Services director, believes the team created something special.
“There’s a lot of power here,” Myers said. “We’re going to continue to grow and mature this capability, and it’s going to be incredible.”
| Date Taken: | 10.29.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.06.2024 13:40 |
| Story ID: | 484139 |
| Location: | ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 12 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, A.I. Flow: Pioneering a New Approach to Artificial Intelligence, by Austin Fox, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
