Government watchdog prepares to assess Pentagon’s revamped AI strategy

In early 2024, the Defense Department will undergo a formal review of its new Data, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence Adoption Strategy by government oversight officials. The review aims to assess whether the strategy fulfills the guidance provided in a March 2022 report, which urged the Department to improve its frameworks and approaches for incorporating powerful and still-maturing technology.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has made seven recommendations in a report, which are still open, and they will be analyzing the Pentagon’s new strategy and discussing it with DOD officials as part of their recommendation follow-up efforts. GAO’s Director for Defense Capabilities and Management emphasized the importance of implementing the recommendations to provide complete information about AI activities and investments and to avoid fragmentation and duplication in the future as DOD organizations adopt and integrate AI technologies.

The Pentagon recently released its updated Data, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence Adoption Strategy, and the forthcoming analysis of this strategy will impact the status of GAO’s 2022 recommendations that remain open.