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\n Aurora, CO\u00a0\u00a0\u2013\u00a0\u00a0
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Artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to revolutionize how the National Reconnaissance Office delivers the space-based capabilities that are critical to national security, NRO Director Chris Scolese said at an industry conference Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimply put, we must continue to leverage AI \u2013 and every emerging technology that we can \u2013 to maintain the U.S. space-based intelligence advantage as we protect our satellites; enhance our ability to monitor adversary activity; and provide timely, accurate intelligence to warfighters, analysts, first responders, and decision makers,\u201d he said during his keynote address to the GEOINT Symposium.<\/p>\n
Throughout its nearly 65-year history, the NRO has been developing and applying leading-edge technologies in space and on the ground to provide new capabilities, greater resiliency, and improved user experiences that aim to solve some of the United States\u2019 most pressing intelligence challenges. Over the last several years, the NRO has been undergoing a major transformation, improving the accuracy and speed of its collections through the proliferation and diversification of its systems, including adding more than 200 satellites of diverse sizes and capabilities. Such growth will exceed the capacity of what human operators can effectively manage, making the expansion of AI imperative to NRO operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery application of AI is oriented toward faster delivery of capability, greater accuracy, and the extension of human capabilities,\u201d Dr. Scolese said.<\/p>\n
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For example, the NRO is applying AI capabilities to increase autonomy on the spacecraft, enabling on-board processing and real-time recognition for situational response. AI can simplify the tasking process and optimize mission planning across the constellation \u2013 making it conversational rather than complex. And it can increase the discoverability of data while making it easily understood by users, even in high-pressure situations.<\/p>\n
As AI capabilities improve and are integrated into more applications, Dr. Scolese noted that the NRO is committed to building trust and transparency into every AI system. This includes rigorous testing and validation, continuous monitoring for performance issues, and clear documentation of how each system was developed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we continue to operationalize AI and incorporate AI models into essential NRO functions, we need to be able to look inside the \u2018black box\u2019 of AI and verify the prediction and outputs of a model are correct, and understand how the model arrived at its prediction,\u201d Dr. Scolese said. \u201cThis is essential for maintaining trust in the NRO\u2019s data.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Scolese underscored that the NRO\u2019s AI transformation does not mean it is seeking to replace humans with machines. Rather, one of his key priorities is developing an AI-ready workforce.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, AI capabilities aren\u2019t just being applied to our satellite systems and ground systems; they\u2019re being integrated across our enterprise in every mission portfolio \u2013 precisely to enable our team and our partners to do things better and faster.\u201d<\/p>\n