Growth trends for selected occupations considered at risk from automation : Monthly Labor Review: U.S

Diving Into 3 Key DARPA AI Programs

As one of the Department of Defense's 14 critical technology areas, artificial intelligence has taken center stage in the organization's research and development endeavors.

According to Matt Turek, deputy director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Information Innovation Office, approximately 70 percent of the agency's programs now use AI and machine learning. Its priorities are not just to develop systems for U.S. Warfighters, but to prevent "strategic surprise" from adversary AI systems.

The Potomac Officers Club's 2025 Defense R&D Summit in January will convene key public and private sector leaders to discuss the future of defense technology. To learn more about the event and stay up-to-date on speaker confirmations, click here.

DARPA offers a plethora of programs designed to transform the DOD's understanding and application of AI systems. Keep reading for a glimpse into three of these initiatives.

AI Cyber Challenge

In August 2023, DARPA announced its two-year AI Cyber Challenge, or AIxCC, a contest through which the agency hopes to drive innovation "at the nexus of AI and cybersecurity to create a new generation of cybersecurity tools."

The goal of the challenge is to find new ways to protect critical infrastructure, which, due to the proliferation of software, is now more vulnerable to attacks.

"If successful, AIxCC will not only produce the next generation of cybersecurity tools, but will show how AI can be used to better society by defending its critical underpinnings," said Perri Adams, who previously led the program.

Artificial Intelligence Quantified

Known as AIQ, the Artificial Intelligence Quantified program aims to develop mathematical foundations for evaluating the safety and capability of generative AI systems.

Patrick Shafto, who manages the program, predicts that the combination of mathematical foundations with progress in measurement and modeling could create a quantified method for assessing AI capabilities.

Over the course of the program, DARPA will collaborate with the National Institute of Standards and Technology as well as other DOD components.

Air Combat Evolution

DARPA's Air Combat Evaluation initiative intends to boost trust in combat autonomy through a challenge problem that is based on human-machine collaborative dogfighting. It has four major goals: increase air combat autonomy performance in local behaviors for individual aircraft and team tactical; build and calibrate trust in air combat local behaviors; scale performance and trust to global behaviors; and build infrastructure for full-scale air combat experimentation.

ACE hit a significant milestone in April, in which the program completed the first-ever in-air tests of AI algorithms autonomously flying an F-16 against a manned F-16 within-visual-range combat situations.

To get a closer look at DOD R&D programs, register for the 2025 Defense R&D Summit here.

American College Of Radiology Launches First Medical Practice Artificial Intelligence Quality Assurance Program

ARCH-AI Can Help Radiology Sites Safely and Effectively Implement AI in Daily Practice

The American College of Radiology® (ACR®) today launched the ACR Recognized Center for Healthcare-AI (ARCH-AI), the first national artificial intelligence quality assurance program for radiology facilities.

The program, built on best practices, outlines expert consensus-based building blocks of infrastructure, processes and governance in AI implementation in real-world practice.

By working toward, and attesting to, compliance within the tenets of the program, participation in ARCH-AI can help radiology practices provide safe and effective implementation of AI products and help radiologists provide better patient care.

"AI is different from previous technologies," said Christoph Wald, MD, PhD, MBA, FACR, vice chair of the ACR Board of Chancellors and chair of the ACR Commission on Informatics. "Even a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-cleared AI product must be tested locally to ensure it works safely and as intended. Practice leaders must put safeguards in place to maximize the benefit of AI products while minimizing risk; ARCH-AI is a low-cost, efficient system to help sites do that."

ARCH-AI site recognition criteria include:

• Establishing an interdisciplinary AI governance group.• Maintaining an inventory of AI algorithms with detailed documentation.• Ensuring adherence to security and compliance measures.• Engaging in diligent review and selection of AI algorithms.• Documenting use cases and training procedures.• Monitoring algorithm performance, including safety and effectiveness.• Contributing to the "Assess-AI" central AI registry for performance benchmarking.

"ARCH-AI can help radiology practices structure QA processes that help them plan for what can go wrong, including the development of good AI governance practices, acceptance testing and effectiveness monitoring of AI products to ensure they continue to function as expected over time," said Keith J. Dreyer, DO, PhD, FACR, ACR Data Science Institute® (DSI®) chief science officer.

Radiology practices that complete the ARCH-AI process will receive an ACR Recognition badge to display in their waiting rooms and lobbies to demonstrate to their communities, patients, payers and referring physicians that they are committed to integrating AI in a safe, responsible manner that allows them to provide the best possible modern healthcare.

"ARCH-AI provides a great blueprint and assists radiology facilities with AI implementation," said Bibb Allen Jr., MD, FACR, ACR DSI chief medical officer. "DSI also offers AICentral.Org, a database of FDA-cleared imaging AI products, and Assess-AI, the ACR's AI registry that can support local AI acceptance testing and monitoring. These ACR programs can help practices meet ARCH-AI standards and receive meaningful guidance and assistance in implementing AI in a safe and effective manner for their patients."

NAU Institute Publishes Guidance For Use Of Generative Artificial Intelligence In Arizona K-12 Schools

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