Artificial Intelligence for Security Practitioners: A Conversation with ChatGPT

By Brent Feller [1]

Summary: ChatGPT and similar programs have put artificial intelligence (AI) into the hands of everyone with an internet connection. AI will transform how many professional fields conducts day-to-day business. Can AI help the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) carry out its mission? The conversion with ChatGPT provides an overview of its basic capabilities and explores how it can assist DKI APCSS.

ChatGPT provides a glimpse into how powerful a tool artificial intelligence (AI) is and can become in the future. People in many different career fields are finding out how it can improve or even transform their industries. Can ChatGPT and other forms of AI being developed change how security practitioners revamp how they conduct business? At The Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS), everyone is focused on its mission: “DKI APCSS builds resilient capacity, shared understanding, and networked relationships among civilian and military practitioners and institutions to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific.” DKI APCSS brings officials and other policymakers from around the world together to discuss the latest security concerns for the Indo-Pacific region and the world. How can ChatGPT help DKI APCSS carry out its mission? Let’s bring ChatGPT into the discussion to find out.

Good morning ChatGPT.

Good morning! How can I help you today?

How can you help security practitioners in 50 words? (ChatGPT can be verbose if you allow it)

As a trained language model, ChatGPT can assist security practitioners by providing information, insights, and recommendations on security-related topics, aiding in scenario planning, and offering resource recommendations. However, it’s important to verify information from multiple sources and use critical thinking in security decision-making.

It is important to point out the advice ChatGPT gave above regarding verifying information and critical thinking. ChatGPT focuses on providing an answer and does not always give a correct response. The term used for this is called hallucination. Everyone using ChatGPT needs to understand this and only use this tool as a starting point.

That is interesting. Can you provide the top security-related topics for the Indo-Pacific region?

Geopolitical competition, military modernization, regional tensions, maritime security, territorial disputes, cybersecurity threats, counterterrorism efforts, defense partnerships, non-traditional security challenges, and multilateral security cooperation are some of the top security-related topics in the Indo-Pacific region.

Three times each year, DKI APCSS conducts a course titled Comprehensive Security Cooperation. This course brings together individuals from around the world to discuss security concerns. ChatGPT provided many of the topics addressed over the 5-week course.

If someone was new to the topic of maritime security, how would you recommend they become more knowledgeable on the subject?

To become more knowledgeable about maritime security, a new learner can start by reading reputable books, articles, and reports on maritime security issues, studying relevant international conventions and agreements, following news and analysis from credible sources, engaging with online forums and communities, and seeking guidance from experienced maritime security experts or practitioners.

What do you consider the top maritime security concerns in the Indo-Pacific?

Some of the top maritime security concerns in the Indo-Pacific region include maritime territorial disputes, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, piracy, and armed robbery at sea, smuggling and trafficking, maritime terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and challenges to freedom of navigation and overflight in contested areas.

Now, to an individual with experience in Indo-Pacific maritime security issues, all of this information provided by ChatGPT is common knowledge. However, for an individual coming to this topic for the first time, like many of the individuals who attend courses at APCSS, this is a concise summation of the issues.

Why is IUU fishing a concern in the Indo-Pacific?

IUU fishing is a significant concern in the Indo-Pacific due to its detrimental impact on marine ecosystems, local livelihoods, and food security. IUU fishing in the region is often associated with overfishing, depletion of fish stocks, damage to marine biodiversity, and economic losses, posing a threat to sustainable fisheries management and marine conservation efforts.

The initial questions to ChatGPT show that it can provide individuals with information that enables them to obtain a basic level of understanding of a topic. This can help in understanding the security challenges, but DKI APCSS is more than imparting knowledge to fellows; it is about building relationships to help get to solutions. How can ChatGPT help in this aspect?

How would you build relationships amongst stakeholders of the IUU issue to get at solutions?

Building relationships among stakeholders to address IUU fishing requires fostering dialogue, cooperation, and coordination among governments, regional organizations, fishing communities, industry actors, and civil society organizations. This can be achieved through regular forums, workshops, and meetings, promoting information sharing, collaborative initiatives, and capacity building, and engaging in multilateral and bilateral agreements, regulations, and enforcement measures to combat IUU fishing and promote sustainable fisheries management in the Indo-Pacific region.

ChatGPT drives directly to the heart of the issue and explains why DKI APCSS is important to the region. Fellows can learn about security concerns through ChatGPT, but it cannot provide what DKI APCSS does through its courses: foster “dialogue, cooperation, and coordination.” This is what will solve current and future security concerns, and AI cannot replace this.

Have you heard of DKI APCSS?

Yes, DKI APCSS stands for the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, a U.S. Department of Defense institution based in Hawaii. It provides executive education and research on security issues to military and civilian leaders from the Indo-Pacific region, fostering cooperation and understanding among nations in the Asia-Pacific Area.

How can ChatGPT help DKI APCSS build relationships?

ChatGPT can assist DKI APCSS in building relationships by facilitating communication and dialogue among stakeholders, providing a platform for engagement and information sharing, fostering understanding of diverse perspectives, and offering insights and recommendations on fostering cooperation and collaboration among nations in the Asia-Pacific region. However, building relationships requires personal interactions and context-specific approaches beyond the capabilities of a language model.

The power of AI is at its nascent stage, but it is already having a transformative impact in many areas. For security practitioners, ChatGPT can be utilized to increase knowledge about security concerns and provide further insights. DKI APCSS can be at the forefront of harnessing this new tool to carry out part of its mission, informing and understanding. With assistance from AI, DKI APCSS can double down on what will actually solve security concerns, as noted by ChatGPT, and that is in building relationships.

[1] Military Professor, DKI APCSS, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A

The views expressed in this article are the author’s alone, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the DKI APCSS or the United States Government.
May 2023