Artificial Intelligence for the Military Act of 2021
The source supplies the latest action, but no lifecycle stage.
Latest action (20 May 2021): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
What this bill does
S. 1776, the Artificial Intelligence for the Military Act of 2021, would direct the Department of Defense to expand training on artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies across several levels of military education and career development. It requires the service chiefs to update junior leader curricula to cover topics like data management, probabilistic reasoning, and AI concepts, and directs the Secretary of Defense to revise professional military education to build knowledge of emerging technologies relevant to warfighting. It also creates a recurring short course on emerging technologies for general/flag officers and senior civilian executives, with specific participation targets rising over time, and requires the military services to designate "emerging technology-coded" billets and create a qualification process for officers to fill them.
The bill primarily affects Department of Defense personnel: junior officers and enlisted leaders in professional military education, senior military and civilian leaders who would take the new short course, and officers seeking specialized emerging-technology assignments. It does not affect civilians outside the department except through its potential influence on military readiness and technology adoption.
The bill was introduced in the Senate on May 20, 2021, by Senator Rob Portman with Senator Martin Heinrich as a cosponsor, and was referred to the Senate Committee on Armed Services. It did not receive a vote and did not advance further in the 117th Congress.
Plain-English summary generated by Bill100 AI from the official record. Always verify against the source below.
Official summary
Artificial Intelligence for the Military Act of 2021
This bill requires the implementation of training and education related to emerging technologies and artificial intelligence for certain military personnel.
The bill requires expansion of the curriculum for military junior leader education to incorporate training material related to focuses that include problem definition and curation and a conceptual understanding of the artificial intelligence life cycle. Such training and education should include the use of existing artificial intelligence-enabled systems and tools.
The Department of Defense (DOD) must ensure that the curriculum for professional military education is revised in each of the military services to incorporate periodic courses on militarily significant emerging technologies.
DOD must establish a short course on emerging technologies for general and flag officers and senior executive-level civilian leaders. The course must be taught on an iterative, two-year cycle and address the most recent and relevant technologies and the application of these technologies to military and business outcomes in DOD.
DOD must ensure that the military services code appropriate billets to be filled by emerging technology-qualified officers and develop a process for qualification of officers in emerging technologies.
The process for qualifying officers for emerging technology-coded billets must be modeled on a streamlined version of the joint qualification process and may include credit for serving in emerging technology-focused (1) fellowships, (2) talent exchanges, (3) government positions, and (4) education courses.
Timeline
20 May 2021
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
Common questions
- What does S. 1776 do?
- S. 1776, the Artificial Intelligence for the Military Act of 2021, would direct the Department of Defense to expand training on artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies across several levels of military education and career development. It requires the service chiefs to update junior leader curricula to cover topics like data management, probabilistic reasoning, and AI concepts, and directs the Secretary of Defense to revise professional military education to build knowledge of emerging technologies relevant to warfighting. It also creates a recurring short course on emerging technologies for general/flag officers and senior civilian executives, with specific participation targets rising over time, and requires the military services to designate "emerging technology-coded" billets and create a qualification process for officers to fill them. The bill primarily affects Department of Defense personnel: junior officers and enlisted leaders in professional military education, senior military and civilian leaders who would take the new short course, and officers seeking specialized emerging-technology assignments. It does not affect civilians outside the department except through its potential influence on military readiness and technology adoption. The bill was introduced in the Senate on May 20, 2021, by Senator Rob Portman with Senator Martin Heinrich as a cosponsor, and was referred to the Senate Committee on Armed Services. It did not receive a vote and did not advance further in the 117th Congress.
- Has S. 1776 become law?
- The source does not supply a confirmed lifecycle stage for S. 1776. Check the latest action and official source below.
- Who sponsored S. 1776?
- S. 1776 was sponsored by Sen. Portman, Rob [R-OH] (R-OH), with 1 cosponsor.
- What's the latest action on S. 1776?
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services. (20 May 2021).
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