Defense Applications for Behavioral Neuroscience

Yosef Razin joined IDA Ideas Host Rhett Moeller to discuss the risks organizations must mitigate when adopting AI for coding tasks. Within the last few years AI-assisted coding has surged, and its merits are clear. Coders can work with remarkable speed by augmenting their workflows with code generated by LLMs. However, AI-assisted coding also exposes and creates vulnerabilities for both organizational security and long-term capacity. As organizations accelerate and expand AI-enabled capabilities, leaders and practitioners must understand these risks to make best-informed decisions. This is all the more critical for organizations that play a role in the nation’s security. Transcript

IDA Ideas host Rhett Moeller spoke to guests Noah Kanter and Clark Frye for a discussion on how artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping the trajectory of war planning. War planning is a complex, human-intensive and time-consuming process — one that AI technology might enhance through its ability to help humans account for a vast quantity of potential variables in an operational context. However, leaders must also consider potential risks that can arise from model failure, user error, or even intentional misuse. In this podcast, Noah and Clark cover the basics of war planning and offer a pragmatic perspective on how integrating cutting-edge AI technology can strengthen the military’s advantage on the battlefield. Transcript

IDA Ideas host Rhett Moeller spoke with Akar Bharadvaj, Rachel L. McVicker and Rosemary K. Tropeano about all-things wargaming at IDA. In this episode, they explain why wargames are useful, reveal the complexities designers must consider when developing games, and provide an overview of several types of wargames that IDA produces. Transcript

IDA Ideas guests Jackie Burhmann and Mikhail Smirnov joined host Rhett Moeller to discuss IDA’s evaluation of the military compensation benchmark for the Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation. In this podcast, they explain how factors that dual-income military households face play a role in service members’ decisions to stay in the military or leave to join the civilian labor market. The U.S. military is an all-volunteer force, so it’s essential that service members are compensated at level that promotes retention decisions. Transcript

IDA Ideas guest Sujeeta Bhatt joins host Rhett Moeller to discuss behavioral neuroscience and how this field applies to Department of Defense interests such as interviews and interrogations, human-machine teaming and non-lethal weapons. Transcript

IDA Ideas guest Ashley Nunes joins host Rhett Moeller to discuss the complexities that critical minerals present, including the global tradeoffs and policy goals relating to these rare, yet essential, resources. Ashley is a researcher at the Science and Technology Policy Institute, an IDA-operated federally funded research and development center. Transcript

IDA Ideas guest James "Jim" Platte joins host Rhett Moeller to explain nuclear deterrence and the geopolitical and technological factors that affect U.S. nuclear strategy. Jim is a researcher within the Strategy, Forces and Resources Division of the Systems and Analyses Center, an IDA-operated federally funded research and development center. Transcript

IDA Ideas guest Arun Maiya joins host Rhett Moeller to discuss artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning: what they are, their capabilities and limitations, ongoing developments in the AI field and applicability in the defense industry. Transcript

IDA Ideas host Rhett Moeller speaks with IDA President Norty Schwartz about the nature of federally funded research and development centers and what makes IDA a standout organization. Transcript

In this transcript of an episode of the podcast IDA Ideas, host Rhett Moeller speaks to V. Bram Lillard and Benjamin Ashwell about weapons system readiness and sustainment. Bram is the Director of the Operational Evaluation Division (OED) in the Systems and Analyses Center, an IDA-operated federally funded research and development center. Benjamin is a researcher in OED. Transcript