The first AUKUS (Australia, UK, and US) artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy trial was held in the UK, with the aim of rapidly driving these technologies into military use.

The work saw the initial joint deployment of Australian, UK, and US AI-enabled assets in a collaborative swarm to detect and track military targets in a representative environment in real time.

Accelerating the development of these technologies “will have a massive impact on coalition military,” the UK government said in a press release.

The trial was organised by the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), and included several demonstrations including the live retraining of models in flight and the interchange of AI models between AUKUS nations.

Despite broader concerns about the rapid development of AI from high profile tech figures including Steve Wozniak, Tristian Harris of the Centre for Humane Technology, and Elon Musk, the military is keen to “rapidly drive these technologies into military capabilities.”

The AUKUS Advanced Capabilities Pillar, known as Pillar 2, is pursuing a trilateral programme of work on a range of cutting-edge technologies and capabilities to promote their security and stability interests in the Indo-Pacific region, an important trade region whose borders are outside any of the participating country’s jurisdiction.

“Through Pillar 2,” the UK government stated, “Australia, the UK, and the US have collaborated to accelerate collective understanding of AI and autonomy technologies, and how to rapidly field robust, trustworthy AI and autonomy in complex operations, while adhering to the shared values of safe and responsible AI.”

How these shared values will be defined is still under much scrutiny as countries across the globe deliberate AI regulations and legislation.

While the UK government has already published a whitepaper on their approach to AI regulation, parliament is still debating AI’s place in the everyday world. The US government has called for public comments on AI in an effort to begin deliberations on the topic.

The Australian government published an AI Ethics Framework in 2019, but has yet to update the framework to keep up with the accelerating technology, though The Human Technology Institute is working with government to do so.

The UK government published a Defence Artificial Intelligence Strategy in June 2022, which states military use of AI will be “ambitious, safe, and responsible,” but with the rapidly evolving technology, it brings into question if the government will listen to calls from technologists to perhaps put on the breaks in some of the most impactful industries like the military.

On the other hand, the UK government has said that while AI is accelerating, strategies are ‘rapidly evolving’ and technologies must match this pace to maintain an ‘operational advantage.’

By working together, the government argued, the UK, US, and Australia will be better suited to share and access better AI technology, reduce duplication of effort, and ensure interoperability between their systems.

UK Deputy Chief of Defence Staff, Military Capability, Lieutenant General Rob Magowan said: “Accelerating technological advances will deliver the operational advantages necessary to defeat current and future threats across the battlespace.

“We are committed to collaborating with partners to ensure that we achieve this while also promoting the responsible development and deployment of AI.”

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US Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense for AUKUS, Abe Denmark said: “This capability demonstration is truly a shared effort and is thus a critical step in our collective initiative to stay ahead of emerging threats.

“By pooling our expertise and resources through our AUKUS partnerships, we can ensure that our militaries are equipped with the latest and most effective tools to defend our nations and uphold the principles of freedom and democracy around the world.”

Australian Deputy Secretary, Strategy, Policy and Industry, Hugh Jeffrey said: “This cooperation under AUKUS Pillar II will deliver a capability greater than any one country could achieve alone, and this really is the rationale for the AUKUS partnership at work.”

More than 70 military and civilian defence personnel and industry contractors were involved in the exercise in April 2023. The trial utilised a variety of air and ground vehicles to test target identification capability, including: Blue Bear Ghost (UK) and Boeing/Insitu CT220 (AUS) uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), Challenger 2 tank, Warrior armoured vehicle and Viking uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV), along with a commercially hired FV433 Abbot self-propelled gun and former Eastern Bloc BMP OT-90.

The trilateral teams collaborated to develop joint machine-learning (ML) models, apply test and evaluation processes, and fly on different national UAVs. The ML models were quickly updated to include new targets and shared among the coalition and AI models retrained to meet changing mission requirements.