2021.11.04

Innovation: AI and the global software arms race

"AI is essential to the cyber space. In cyber, one can create hundreds or thousands of ‘software agents’ far easier than building physical tanks, airplanes, ships or missiles." + Irish Times

2021.10.20

Steve Chien interview: Why NASA is inventing curious AI for deep space

"Space probes will be the first to explore the furthest reaches of our solar system and beyond. To make discoveries like finding alien life, they will need to think more like humans, says NASA’s Steve Chien" + New Scientist

2021.09.28

Feds Offer Recommendations on Scaling AI

"'We recognize that establishing justified confidence in AI system is the critical issue in seeing AI systems deployed widespread. And for that, we need robust and reliable AI, testing evaluation verification and validation, we need leadership among the different institutions that will be deploying the AI, we need rules of the road in accountability in governance, and we also need to develop patterns for human and AI interaction and teaming is a very critical point,' Dr. Steve Chien, Commissioner at the NSCAI, said." + MeriTalk

2021.03.21

U.S. Unprepared for AI Competition with China, Commission Finds

"The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence is out with its comprehensive final report recommending a path forward for ensuring U.S. superiority in AI that calls for the Defense Department and the intelligence community to become “AI-ready” by 2025." + Nextgov

2021.03.02

AI commission sees ‘extraordinary’ support to stand up tech-focused service academy

"The report also recommended creating a Digital Service Academy, modeled after the five current military service academies, that would “grow tech talent with the same seriousness of purpose that we grow military officers,” and train current and future federal employees." + Federal News Network

2019.12.05

Mission to Mars: No humans need apply

"The real Captain Kirk, the ambassador from Earth who will travel to the farthest reaches of the solar system and the galaxy, is much more likely to be an assemblage of microprocessors and intelligent software, than a Spandex-clad space captain." + Irish Times

2019.12.03

NASA JPL’s AI chief on interstellar robot meetings and the search for ET

"Chien was one of the speakers at the recent National Analytics Summit held in Dublin by the Analytics Institute, where he revealed the work underway at [NASA] to use machine learning and other autonomous technologies to bring warp-like speeds to the rate of cosmic discoveries." + Silicon Republic

2019.11.07

U.S. National Security Commission Warns Pentagon Of Falling Hopelessly Behind In The AI Arms Race

"An interim report compiled by a U.S. national security panel warns the U.S. government of falling too far behind China and Russia in the AI arms race, while calling for new investments to foster innovation." + Gizmodo

2019.02.19

Space: the new AI frontier?

"In today’s media-rich environment the concept of artificial intelligence is hard to miss, but its role in our space-based systems is easy to overlook. In fact, for some applications, it is already embedded." + Engineering and Technology

2019.01.10

Top tech execs named to new National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence

"Executives from major technology firms Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Oracle will serve on the new National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, along with former national security officials, leading academics and one sitting U.S. senator." + Inside Defense

2018.12.06

NASA’s next Mars rover will use AI to be a better science partner

"NASA can't yet put a scientist on Mars. But in its next rover mission to the Red Planet, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is hoping to use artificial intelligence to at least put the equivalent of a talented research assistant there." + Ars Technica

2018.10.15

Artificial Intelligence At NASA - Interview with Steve Chien, Head of AI, NASA-JPL

"From rovers to satellite imagery analysis, AI is a powerful tool in the agency's quest to advance human scientific knowledge. But today, AI is also a powerful tool for businesses." + YouTube

2018.07.16

Curiosity Gets More Curious - To make Curiosity (et al.) more curious, NASA and ESA smarten up AI in space.

"The future of deep-space exploration? 'We can't deal with it without autonomy'" + Ars Technica

2018.05.22

Toquin TEC 1. Capítulo 2: Steve Chien x Diego Slezak

"Steve Chien es el director del grupo de inteligencia artificial en el laboratorio de propulsión de la NASA, Estados Unidos. Y con Diego Slezak, uno de los referentes más fuertes en el campo de la inteligencia artificial de Argentina, se encuentran para conversar cómo es aplicar esa tecnología en el espacio." + YouTube

2018.03.31

NASA Has Switched Off A Groundbreaking Satellite After 17 Years

"EO-1 out-performed everyone’s expectations and pushed the boundaries of satellite technology. Among its contributions, it was able to help our understanding of the Earth, observe the extreme disasters of the last 17 years, further AI tech for satellites, and pioneer satellite formation flying" + Forbes

2018.02.14

The Silicon Valley Summer Camp Trying To Save Us From Extinction

"the data-digesting talents of deep learning aren’t just useful for designing autonomous robot explorers for the oceans believed to be on Jupiter’s moon Europa, for instance, but for finding signs of extraterrestrial life." + Fast Company

2017.12.28

How NASA's Search for ET Relies on Advanced AI

"Jet Propulsion Laboratory's artificial intelligence chief describes the 'ultimate' test for AI in space exploration." + Scientific American

2017.12.21

While earthlings take a break, the Mars rover keeps working

"While many of us will spend the final days of 2017 taking a break from work, the ChemCam instrument aboard NASA's Mars Curiosity rover will keep busy." + LANL Press Release

2017.11.29

NASA's Lessons For AI In Business Are Out Of This World

"AI holds the key to our quest to finding our place in the universe. 'Distant environments are so hostile – and so far away – that robotic explorers will be first to explore the nooks and crannies of the solar system, and indeed, neighbouring stars. Due to the complexity of such an endeavour, AI will be critical to making this inevitable exploration possible.'" + AI Business

2017.11.14

Steve Chien, NASA: On how automation helps monitor natural hazards and the future of AI

"Today, there are now global networks of sensors on volcanoes, linked with satellites, producing relevant alerts to help organisations make the right decisions. The data generated by this, through seismic sensors, remote imaging, atmospheric modelling and more, goes into the terabits each day. As more processes become automated, through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, more can get done." + IoT News

2017.10.25

Extraterrestrial Hunters

"Meet the Robots Helping in the Quest to Find Extraterrestrial Life Today, robots roam the deep seas and the slopes of volcanoes. Their next mission: the search for life beyond earth" + Wall Street Journal

2017.07.11

NASA: A 60-Year Interstellar Trip Needs a "Self-Healing" Ship

"[An interstellar spacecraft], Chien emphasizes, 'needs to be self-healing, self-aware, able to manage all these things, manage problems that come up… It’s pretty much on its own.'" + Inverse

2017.07.08

Exactly How A.I. Could Be the First to Find Extraterrestrial Life

"A critical aspect of NASA’s mission to explore our solar system and beyond is artificial intelligence, especially in uncrewed probes that venture into deep space beyond our solar system. So it stands to reason that if there is extraterrestrial life sitting out there in the solar system, an artificially intelligent system will find aliens before humans do." + Inverse

2017.07.05

Artificial intelligence helps explore Mars ... and go further

The AEGIS system allows the robot 'Curiosity' to study the composition of the red planet in less time and in an almost autonomous way. + El Pais

2017.06.27

NASA: AI Will Lead the Future of Space Exploration

"Steve Chien and Kiri Wagstaff of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have predicted that in the future, the behavior of space probes will be governed by AI rather than human prompts from earth." + Futurism

2017.06.23

NASA? More like NASAI: Brainy robots 'crucial' to space exploration

"Autonomous space robots are going to be key to making new discoveries and exploring the furthest reaches of our Solar System and beyond, according to NASA scientists." + The Register

2017.06.21

A.I. Will Prepare Robots for the Unknown

"How do you get a robot to recognize a surprise? That's a question artificial intelligence researchers are mulling, especially as A.I. begins to change space research..." + JPL Press Release

2017.06.21

Laser-targeting A.I. Yields More Mars Science

"Artificial intelligence is changing how we study Mars. A.I. software on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has helped it zap dozens of laser targets on the Red Planet this past year," + JPL Press Release

2017.06.21

Space Robots Will Work for Decades in Alpha Centauri Before Humans

"Forget about Mars for a second. If humanity is to ever reach Alpha Centauri — the nearest star system that claims the potentially habitable planet Proxima Centauri b — we’ll likely rely on artificial intelligence-powered spacecraft to put in years and probably decades, of the prep work before we arrive at the destination 4.37 light-years away." + Inverse

2017.06.21

Curiosity Doesn't Need Your Help Blasting Rocks with a LASER

"As cars here on Earth begin to drive themselves and robots autonomously roam sidewalks delivering food and nearly running over dogs, over on Mars, the Curiosity rover very much remains a remotely piloted vehicle." + Wired

2017.06.21

The Curiosity rover and other spacecraft are learning to think for themselves

"Autonomous science-bots will make it easier to explore our solar system … and beyond." + Popular Science

2017.06.13

When We Go to Mars, Will We Have a Real-Life HAL 9000 With Us?

"How generations of NASA scientists were inspired by an evil Hollywood supercomputer..." + Smithsonian Magazine

2017.04.17

NASA's scientists formed a club to dream up uses for AI like self-replicating robots and harpooning comets

"To conjure up ideas outside of the space agency's regular mission cycle, top minds from JPL's artificial intelligence research teams have formed an informal group to talk about the big questions, like how autonomous robots could help space exploration around distant stars and methods for leveraging huge celestial bodies to carry our AI around the solar system." + Quartz

2017.03.24

The Journey of NASA's Smartest Satellite Finally Comes To an End

Retrospective of 16 years of operations of the EO1 spacecraft, including more than a decade under control of the AI group's Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment software that managed day to day operations and on-board science analysis. +Wired Article

2017.03.22

How A.I. Captures a Volano's Changing Lava Lake

AI group Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment software onboard EO-1 captures images of the lava lake in Ethiopia's Erta Ale volcano and rounds out 12 years of autonomous operations for the spacecraft. +JPL Press Release

2017.01.25

NASA develops AI for future exploration of extraterrestrial subsurface oceans

"NASA is developing technology that could enable autonomous navigation of future underwater drones studying subsurface oceans on icy moons like Jupiter's Europa. The agency is working on artificial intelligence (AI) that would allow submersibles to make their own decisions during exploration of extraterrestrial water worlds." + Article

2016.12.01

US lead on AI will shrink without more funding and education

Experts tell Ted Cruz's Senate hearing that China, India and others aren't far behind. +Endgadget Article

2016.11.30

Senate Testimony: The Dawn of Artificial Intelligence

Testimony by Dr. Steve Chien of the JPL AIG and other industry experts to the US Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness regarding applications and future of artificial intelligence. +Senate.gov

2016.11.30

From Monterey Bay to Europa

JPL press release describing deployment of artificially intelligent submersible science robots to Montery Bay. The technology demonstrates a step toward autonomous exploration of ocean worlds such as Europa. +JPL Press Release

2016.07.21

NASA Mars Rover Can Choose Laser Targets on Its Own

Press release describing deployment of AEGIS software to the MSL rover, allowing it to condust autonomous follow-up science data gathering on Mars. +JPL Press Release

2015.01.08

Los cerebros de la Inteligencia Artificial

+Clarin

2013.12.06

Thinking Inside the Box, Launching into Space

+JPL Press Release

2011.12.08

AEGIS wins NASA Software of the Year Award

+JPL Press Release

2010.04.07

NASA Sensors Providing Rapid Estimates of Iceland Volcano Emissions

+NASA Press Release

2009.08.07

NASA Goes Inside a Volcano, Monitors Activity

+JPL Press Release

2006.05.30

Intelligent Beings in Space!

+ New York Times

2005.09.14

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JPL Team Honored With NASA's Software of the Year Award

Software developed by a team of engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, has been selected to receive NASA's Software of the Year Award. The ASE software helps scientists monitor environmental events on Earth, such as volanic eruptions, floods and wildfires. + JPL Press Release

2005.07.13

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Software Learns to Recognize Spring Thaw

Spring thaw in the Northern Hemisphere was monitored by a new set of eyes this year -- an Earth-orbiting NASA spacecraft carrying a new version of software trained to recognize and distinguish snow, ice, and water from space. + JPL Press Release

2004.09.06

Agents of Change

"Autonomous agents are still in the labs but could eventually play a critical role in areas ranging from setting market prices to creating more resilient networks." Industry press coverage of the rise of autonomous agents, with specific focus on the AI group's Autonomous Sciencecraft agent operating on-board NASA's EO1 spacecraft. + Computerworld Article

2004.06.25

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New Software on NASA Spacecraft Monitors Active Volcano

Software on a NASA spacecraft recently made a scientific observation on its own without human interaction. The ST6 Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment captured images of Antarctica's Mt. Erebus and detected volcanic activity. + JPL Press Release

2003.08.13

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NASA Satellites Eye Forest Fires

If a forest catches fire and no one is around to see it, can it call for help? The forest cannot call, but thanks to new technology developed by NASA, firefighters may get the word faster through new, high-tech eyes in the sky. + JPL Press Release

2001.05.29

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Artificial Intelligence Software to Command Mission

NASA software that thinks for itself and makes decisions without help from ground controllers will fly as the brains of triplet satellites in 2002. + JPL Press Release