Podcasts
SpyCast
Ep 573
SpyCast 2.7.23
Ep 573 | 2.7.23

"How Artificial Intelligence is Changing the Spy Game" – with Mike Susong

Show Notes
Transcript

Summary

Mike Susong (Website, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the impact and potential of AI on the intelligence field. Mike is a former CIA case officer who now oversees global intelligence for a risk management company.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

  • What AI is and why it matters
  • How the Intelligence Community is using AI 
  • The pros and cons of AI for case officers in the field
  • Ukraine - intersections between AI and OSINT
  • AI in Alan Turing’s Imitation Game

Reflections

  • Replicants, machines and robots
  • Will humans become obsolete?

And much, much more …


Episode Notes

When the AI Robot “Watson” beat Ken Jennings in a three-day ‘Jeopardy!’ competition, Jennings famously responded, “I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords.” This week on SpyCast, we explore how, intelligence is embracing AI – or “these computer overlords.” What is it, how is AI being used, and how could the Intelligence Community better employ it to enhance national security?

Mike Susong, an expert in the growing field of artificial intelligence, joins Andrew to discuss these questions and more. Informed by his years of experience within the Intelligence Community as a case officer and now in the private sector, Mike illuminates where AI came from, and where it can go in the future. Utilizing examples from the war in Ukraine, you’ll be amazed at the capabilities of artificial intelligence combined with the other -”INTs (especially OSINT).” This is an episode you won’t want to miss. 

And… 

Andrew teamed up with ChatGPT (let’s be honest, ChatGPT did most of the work) to write a Shakespearean sonnet - about espionage Read that sonnet here!

Quotes of the Week

“My concern is, and it pains me a bit, is that the intelligence community -- which I love dearly and am proud of everything I did and proud of everyone who continues to serve -- is it will take a lot of bureaucratic bravery and it will take a fundamental change, I think, in the way AI is applied to make it a revolution.” – Mike Susong.

Glossary: 

  • AGI: Artificial General Intelligence. The unrestricted ability of software to learn, understand, & respond to any intellectual task that a human being is capable of. 
  • ANI: Artificial Narrow Intelligence. The restricted ability of software to perform a limited subset of intellectual tasks. 
  • Deep Learning: a machine learning technique that teaches computers to learn by example, something that comes naturally for human beings.
  • Machine Learning: The field of study interested in building computational systems that can improve their own performance of some task.
  • Natural Language Processing: A field of study that aims to analyze and understand human language communications both spoken and textual. 
  • Uncanny Divide: Where people feel a sense of unease or revulsion in response to humanoid robots that are highly realistic.


Resources

SURFACE SKIM

Andrew’s Recommendation

*Beginner Resources*

*SpyCasts*


DEEPER DIVE

Books

  • The Age of AI: And Our Human Future, Kissinger et.al., (LB&C, 2021)
  • AI: A Modern Approach, Peter Norvig & Stuart Rissell (Pearson, 2020)
  • The Master Algorithm, Pedro Domingos (Basic Books, 2018)
  • Alan Turing Decoded, Dermot Turing (History Press, 2022)
  • Superintelligence: Paths Dangers, Strategies, Nick Bostrom (OUP, 2014)

Articles

Reports

Audio

Video

Primary Sources 

*Wildcard Resource*

  • During the episode, Mike suggested inputting “Mickey Mouse ascending the Himalayas in the Impressionist style” into the AI art program DALL-E – Here are the results!


SpyCast
Podcast Info
HOST(S):
Andrew Hammond
Erin Dietrick
Andrew Hammond, Ph.D. is Historian & Curator at the International Spy Museum, home of the world's preeminent collection of intelligence-related artifacts. Previous chapters have included seven years in the RAF, Public Humanities at the 9/11 Museum in NYC, Fellowships here, there, and everywhere, and academia. He is author of the forthcoming book: "Struggles for Freedom": Afghanistan & US Foreign Policy Since 1979. He loves bialys.
Erin Dietrick is the Programs & Podcast Assistant at the International Spy Museum. Erin is a Cleveland native and graduate of the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY, where she studied history. Currently gaining her MA in Museum Studies from the George Washington University, Erin is passionate about storytelling, inspiring critical thinking, and inciting joy through museum programming. She has a special place in her heart for music history and named her orange cat Ringo after Ringo Starr.
Schedule: Tuesdays, 7am EST (weekly)
Credits: SPY: Mike Mincey and Memphis Vaughn III, Co-Producers; Emily Rens and Emily Coletta, Graphics; Afua Anokwa and Ariel Samuel, Social Media; Erin Dietrick, Researcher, Scheduler, Editor, Co-Producer, Social Media; Andrew Hammond, Writer, Editor-in-Chief, Executive Producer. CYBERWIRE: Elliott Peltzman, Sound Design; Elliott Peltzman and Tré Hester, mixing; Jen Eiben, Co-producer, Social Media; SpyCast opening music: Wayne Jones, “Cypher” (2018).
Creator: International Spy Museum
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