The Military’s Artificial Intelligence

Miller-McCune reports that, “Using artificial intelligence and the graphics techniques behind ‘Avatar,’ a USC institute creates ‘virtual humans’ and interactive immersions that train American soldiers…Most of the institute’s funding comes from the Army; in bureaucratese, it’s a university-affiliated research center, and it has an annual budget in the low tens of millions of dollars and a staff of more than 100. The bulk of its training simulations are aimed at the skills soldiers will need, from training through deployment, and the services they will require on return. But the institute’s research has also spawned applications that seem likely to have civilian appeal, from a ‘virtual patient’ who helps doctors, psychological clinicians and social workers learn diagnostic skills to National Science Foundation-funded, twin-sister ‘virtual museum guides’ who answer questions for visitors to a Boston science museum.”