Department of Defense Lacks Critical Guidelines For Acquiring AI Systems: Watchdog

The United States Department of Defense is on a shopping spree when it comes to acquiring AI systems but has yet to issue any department-wide guidance on how to shop for and integrate AI capabilities effectively, which can be a long and costly process, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

DOD officials noted in the report that given the many sprawling units within the DOD, a more streamlined guidance process would help avoid major potential pitfalls when it comes to bringing more AI systems onboard.

“Without department-wide and tailored service-level guidance, DOD is missing an opportunity to ensure that it is consistently acquiring AI capabilities in a manner that accounts for the unique challenges associated with AI,” the report states. The AI capabilities include those with the potential for use in wartime, like systems to better identify "targets on the battlefield."

Ben Winters, senior counsel with the Electronic Information Privacy Center's AI and Human Rights Project, said this is the latest report illustrating the urgency of passing robust procurement requirements via government legislation. 

“The guidelines, executive orders, and commissions are clearly not working, and the largest purchaser of AI in the government cannot be trusted,” said Winter. 

The report notes that while many groups across the DOD are already acquiring and developing AI capabilities, the DOD hasn’t told them how, exactly, they should go about it.

A source familiar with the report told The Messenger that the main consequence of a lack of department-wide acquisition guidance and coordination was the potential for wasted time and effort. 

“They're losing opportunities to leverage learning,” said the source. “The guidance would be to build upon the things that don't go well. And that's to avoid the things that don't go well, whether those are acquisition type tools, or processes, or the just the general approach to how they're going to work with the contractors in developing these tools.”

As part of the report, GOA surveyed 13 private companies to understand the best practices for acquiring AI systems, including understanding mission needs, making a business case, and planning for the future. 

“DOD is in the process of planning to develop such guidance, but it has not defined concrete plans and has no timeline to do so,” the report states. “The military services also lack AI acquisition-specific guidance, though military officials noted that such guidance would be helpful to navigate the AI acquisition process.”

Several companies emphasized in the report “the need to consider intellectual property and data rights concerns when negotiating contracts for AI capabilities” — implying that step may be missed at times. The DOD currently uses an online marketplace called Tradewind to expedite its procurement process for AI systems.