FLORENCE (ITALPRESS) – The traditional inauguration ceremony of the 2024-2025 Academic Year of the Air Force Training Institutes was held in Florence at the Aula Magna of the Institute of Aeronautical Military Sciences in the presence of Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Defense Isabella Rauti. The ceremony, which was attended by the Air Force Chief of Staff, Air Force General Luca Goretti, and numerous civil and military authorities, touched on topics such as the importance of training, the human element and the development of new technologies.The inauguration of the Academic Year opened with a speech by the Commander of the Schools and the 3rd Air Region, Air Squadron General Silvano Frigerio, who, after a brief introduction on the main activities completed in the last Academic Year, wanted to highlight the need for the Armed Force to implement a series of projects based on the potential of Artificial Intelligence.In this sense should be read the activation of the new Training Unit: Awareness and Research in Artificial Intelligence, which aims to promote the knowledge and increase the awareness of Air Force Academy attendees on the potential use of AI.Similarly, the implementation of a project called “smart recruiting” is underway, which aims to adopt Artificial Intelligence for interactive engagement of potential candidates and effective communication that can explicate all training and professionalism opportunities within the Armed Force.With reference to the importance of the technological element for future challenges, however, General Frigerio pointed out that “the investment in human capital represents the real enabling factor of the effects of aerospace power, as one cannot disregard the human resource i.e. militarily and professionally educated and trained personnel, firm in their values principles and ready to sacrifice their own interests in favor of those of the community.”The Chief of Staff of the Air Force then took the floor, who, after greeting and thanking the many military and civilian authorities present, the personnel, faculty and young trainees of the training institutes present in the hall and connected via webex, urged the latter to be “the backbone of the Azure Armament in the near future by sprinkling the structure with new lifeblood, putting in place a virtuous renewal process and a consequent updating of knowledge, ensuring the growth and adaptation of the entire organization to current and tomorrow’s issues.””As the Air Force,” continued General Goretti, “we have a close connection with technology, which is a distinctive feature of our DNA, necessary to express aerospace power. It is precisely the need to control and master this unstoppable technological development – think artificial intelligence, drones, sensors, robotics, nanotechnology, biotechnology – that requires us to constantly anticipate innovation. Innovation that is in line with our guiding principles from which we cannot deviate. It will be precisely these values that must be part of the professional background of every woman and man in blue, precisely in order to achieve an Armed Force that is increasingly in the vanguard and at the disposal of the country, fully aware of its capabilities. “At the end of his speech, the Chief of Staff declared open the 2024/2025 Academic Year of the Air Force Training Institutes.The ceremony then saw the intervention of Father Paolo Benanti, a Franciscan theologian of the Third Order Regular who deals with ethics, bioethics and ethics of technologies. In his talk, titled “Artificial Intelligence and Ethical Challenges,” Father Benanti analyzed the topic of ethical issues related to the use of artificial intelligence and tools that rely on algorithms.Specifically, the Franciscan theologian and member of the High Level Advisory Board on AI United Nation, highlighted how artificial intelligence is producing changes in every human activity, including national security. These profound transformations based on the development of AI can yes support humans but, at the same time, require ethical reflection.In the face of this deluge of artificial intelligence, in fact, it is more urgent than ever to develop a new universal language that knows how to manage innovation. In this sense, Father Benanti introduces the concept of “algor-ethics” , or “an ethics produced by humans but processed by machines through an algorithm. The best sensor for directing a machine,” the Theologian concludes, “remains the human element, especially in an extreme environment such as military flight. “The opening ceremony of the Academic Year concluded with the speech of Undersecretary Rauti, who recalled how “the Institutes of the Arma Azzurra have trained generations of Commanders and leaders. A tradition that is perpetuated thanks to the “vocation to the future” that is a hallmark of the Air Force, which is capable of interweaving tradition and modernity. In the field of training,” he continued, “understood as a strategic domain, the Azure Armament knows how to combine vision and perspective, preparing for new competitions, the use of new languages and to fully employ new technologies, from artificial intelligence to big data. The Undersecretary – who has the delegation for Training – then remarked on the need for Defense to have “the cognitive and technological tools to defend against Cyber attacks and threats to critical infrastructure, vital to national interest and security. And it is increasingly important and strategic,” he concluded, “the positive use of new technologies, from artificial intelligence to Quantum Computing, together with education and training to understand the new threats and strengthen a preventive response capability.
– Air Force press office photo -(ITALPRESS).
