DisinformationSOCOM, U.S. Air Force Enlist Primer to Combat Disinformation

Primer, a machine intelligence company, announced winning a multi-million dollar Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the United States Air Force (USAF) and Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).

Primer will develop the first-ever machine learning platform to automatically identify and assess suspected disinformation. Primer will also enhance its natural language processing platform to automatically analyze tactical events to provide commanders with unprecedented insight as events unfold in near real-time.

Primer to Create First AI-Powered Platform to Combat Disinformation
Primer says that in partnership with the USAF and USSOCOM, it will develop the first machine learning platform capable of identifying and assessing the veracity of suspected disinformation. It was previously impossible for machine learning solutions to effectively identify and extract claims, but by leveraging new approaches pioneered by Primer’s in-house natural language processing researchers, Primer aims to complete initial development of these platforms within the next 12 months.

Information overload is one of the most pressing challenges facing the U.S. military. Every day, humanity creates 2.5 quintillion bytes of new data, and less than one percent of the total amount of global data has ever been analyzed. From 1995-2016, the average U.S. intelligence analyst’s daily required reading grew from 20,000 to 200,000 words per day, and is expected to grow to over 2,000,000 by 2025. The massive volume of information available, coupled with exponential growth in disinformation, underscores the fact that to fight disinformation the U.S. will need to illuminate the truth.

Primer Will Tailor Existing AI Platform to Enable USSOCOM and USAF to Analyze Events in Real-Time
Primer notes that it builds software machines that read and write in English, Russian, and Chinese to automatically unearth trends and patterns across large volumes of data. The company supports the mission of the intelligence community and broader DOD by automating reading and research tasks to enhance the speed and quality of decision-making. Primer will tailor this technology to provide a continuously updating dashboard for USAF and USSOCOM operational commanders to analyze events as they unfold in real-time. This platform will automate the work typically done by dozens of analysts in a security operations center to ingest all of the data relevant to an event as it happens and funnel it into a unified user interface, including identifying trends and patterns, to quickly give commanders the most important information.

“Since 2016, we have seen AI-powered disinformation disrupt elections, critical infrastructure, and undermine the ground truth of our nation,” said Sean Gourley, CEO & Founder of Primer. “We’ve entered a new era where information warfare and the ability for our adversaries to shape perceptions of reality are their deadliest weapons, and we’re honored to work with the U.S. Air Force and SOCOM to create first-of-its-kind AI solutions for tracking complex events and countering online disinformation.”