AI Flow: Pioneering a New Approach to Artificial Intelligence | Article

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. – The military is changing. At the Association of the United States Army’s annual exposition in mid-October, the theme was “Transforming for a Complex World,” and leaders from across the enterprise explained how and why this transformation is so essential. For example, Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth detailed in her opening remarks the questions decision makers should ask as they consider how to meet the inherent challenges of large-scale combat operations.

“Does this capability make our troops more lethal?”

“Does this fit in with the way we will fight in the future?”

“Does this program still make sense?”

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, who focused on the Army’s Transformation in Contact initiative at the same event, emphasized the ambiguity and instability of the world, and how the Army must respond.

“All of us – every leader, businessperson, policymaker, ally and partner, soldier, family and friend must have the same sense of urgency in transforming our military to meet the needs of our nation,” George said.

At an exhibition like AUSA, held annually in Washington DC and covered in layers of high-level strategy, it can be easy to forget the tangible work being done around the military. About 70 miles north of Washington, at Aberdeen Proving Ground, the transformation and modernization effort is more than a messaging strategy, however.

The Communications-Electronics Command is an organization at APG that weaves the military’s drive for transformative concepts into the fabric of new projects. One such project, developed with the help of industry leaders in AI, is AI Flow.

Built and managed by a team of software and data engineers from the CECOM Software Engineering Center, the experimental program allows users to provide a customized AI workspace based on their needs. With technical support from the Microsoft Azure Government OpenAI infrastructure, the team behind the program is confident they have created a service for the Department of Defense that can transform the way the military executes its mission.

Testing the program

AI Flow is currently used in limited areas by approved users. Before the program is fully released, the SEC team will offer the service of selecting technical center personnel who will use the program during their daily work.

Chris Myers, director of CECOM SEC Technical Services, has the unique perspective of seeing the potential of this program as both a supervisor of the team in charge and a user of the pilot program.

“The team really did a great job with the user interface of it,” Myers said. “It goes a long way, as you use a web-based product like AI Flow, the usability and simplicity of what they have designed is critical.”

The product has the authority to work with controlled unclassified information, and because users access the service with a Common Access Card or CAC, the work they do using AI Flow is secure.

According to Myers, a secure, user-friendly interface that is inviting and easy to use will make all the difference.

In addition to his role as head of the directorate responsible for the service, Myers also used AI Flow during the pilot period. From this perspective, the integration of the product into his work has had a meaningful impact.

“I have a number of examples where I’ve used the tool to sort out some of my initial thoughts,” says Myers. “Instead of wasting my brain power and racking my brain with different projects, I can throw all my thoughts into the chat [A.I. Flow] and let it work it out for me.

As users continue to integrate the program into their work, AI Flow will continue to improve. In addition to data from internal CECOM SEC users, the development team integrated feedback from external organizations.

US Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground, tested AI Flow and evaluated their experience for the CECOM SEC team. As the organization responsible for Army contracts and business support for eight competency areas, ACC-APG is a congruent testbed for a service like AI Flow.

Writing contracts is often tedious, repetitive and highly dependent on attention to detail. CECOM SEC worked with ACC-APG to set parameters, upload sample documents and create guidelines for preparing a justification and approval document, which is an integral part of military contracts required for solicitations.

With the right files and instructions, AI Flow generated a J&A that was approximately 80% complete. A process that typically takes a team or individual days or weeks to complete was accomplished by the program in just a few minutes.

“We are very excited about the demos we have seen from SEC,” said Katie Thompson, deputy director of ACC-APG. “The J&A tools will save thousands of man-hours in the time spent creating and reviewing those documents in both our organization and our client organizations.”

From Thompson’s perspective, as a leader in Army contracting, the otherwise stalled resources made available through the use of AI Flow make a tangible difference.

“That’s real money, time and resources that can now be reallocated and spent elsewhere.” said Thompson.

The process behind the program

The AI ​​Flow team has been working on the project for about a year. The core team consists of four CECOM SEC experts. Computer scientists Maluki Montgomery and Roy Trieu, information technology specialist Ethan Eanes, and team leader Frank Frisby.

Frisby, a data scientist, has advocated for many AI efforts within SEC. Montogomery, Trieu and Frisby have won several US Army AI competitions under the name AI Avengers. Harnessing the power of AI to empower soldiers and civilians is the driving force behind the AI ​​Flow team.

Frisby knows the potential of the program and the team is committed to realizing theoretical possibilities.

“We want to build something for every user,” says Frisby. “When a team starts working on their projects, they get a customized experience based on their needs.”

This approach, which builds AI Flow as a service tailored to specific needs, is uncharted territory. Compared to similar platforms being developed by military organizations, AI Flow will enable CECOM SEC, an organization traditionally responsible for software maintenance, to deliver organic capabilities as a service.

As the team continues to measure the pilot and receive feedback, they can adapt in real time.

The process loop between users and the team behind AI Flow creates an environment of continuous integration and continuous deployment; new cases are identified, resolved and updates are pushed into the program.

In addition to the program’s primary functions, users can also track their performance and the benefits of using the tool. The statistics show the resources saved, including time, costs and return on investment.

For each project, a user can create an estimated report showing how many hours and dollars were saved using AI Flow, allowing organizations to demonstrate the added value with simple metrics.

Ronald Rizzo, deputy director of CECOM SEC, expects the program to change the way organizations do their work.

“Someone comes to us and says they have a task that is often labor intensive or administratively burdensome,” says Rizzo. “They want to automate that as much as possible so that their staff can focus on creative efforts.”

“This is generative AI as a service,” says Rizzo.

The impact of the program

In late October, the Biden administration published the first-ever National Security Memorandum on Artificial Intelligence. The NSM outlines strategic goals for the responsible use of AI and the federal government’s role in achieving those goals.

The NSM identifies the Department of Defense as one of the pillars supporting the exploitation of safe, secure and reliable AI

The Army’s transformation will depend on many things, including innovative process improvements.

As AI Flow continues the pilot, the program will move closer to full release. From those who write contracts to supervisors who write reviews. From HR officials writing information about new jobs to military lawyers studying case law. When the service is available throughout the military, the potential benefits for virtually every profession will be great.

Myers, director of CECOM SEC Technical Services, believes the team has created something special.

“There’s a lot of power here,” Myers said. “We continue to expand and mature this capability, and it’s going to be incredible.”