8/8/23: The real-world view for next-gen AI; the past, present, and future of the Air Force’s innovation unit

The next generation of the Army’s Project Convergence is scheduled for the beginning of next year. Federal News Network reports Project Convergence-4 will focus on battlefield scenarios. Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan (USAF ret.), former director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, tells you what really matters in AI research, and how a movie he watched recently sparked that thought.The Air Force’s innovation arm has five new lines of effort in its third iteration. AFWERX says the goal of its effort is “expanding technology, talent, transition, and capabilities.” Mark Ingram, Chief Strategy Officer at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Integrated Capabilities Directorate, and finalist for a Service to America Medal in the Emerging Leaders category, traces the history of AFWERX, and considers what the AFWERX of the future will look like.Photo: Mark Ingram, courtesy U.S. Air Force