Hundreds to gather at Wright-Patt AFB to talk about what AI means and why it matters

The Air Force Research Laboratory, based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is an integral part of the team planning to deploy around 1,000 AI-powered planes by 2028.

The Wright-Patterson Data Analytics and AI Forum, scheduled next week, seeks to bring together some of the base’s keenest minds to talk about what AI means and why it matters.

The forum is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 4 at Kenney Hall, at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) on Wright-Patterson’s Area B.

More than 400 people have registered, roughly split between in-person and online registrations. Online registrants will be able to watch on a closed YouTube channel.

Amanda Bullock, senior strategic advisor for AI at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and Maj. Mark Bateman, a systems engineering professor at AFIT, organized the event and can see it becoming an annual gathering.

“We have already made connections we didn’t have before,” Bateman said in an interview.

The point of the forum is to hear how some of the best minds at Wright-Patterson and beyond apply data analytics and AI to education, technology development, and operations.

“We have such an interesting concentration of mass in this subject matter, both on the data analytics side and in AI, and in the intersection of the two,” that holding the event at Wright-Patterson made sense, Bateman said.

He recalled attending other AI events elsewhere across the country and bumping into plenty of attendees from Wright-Patterson.

“A lot of us were going to these events and realizing, ‘Wait a minute,’ we’re all from Wright-Patterson,’” he said.

Bullock said AI is helping Air Force decision-makers “tackle the toil,” doing more with fewer resources.

“We’re looking to leverage it in business processes,” she said.

Bateman sees AI helping AFRL and the Life Cycle Management Center — also based at Wright-Patterson, like AFRL — enhance systems engineering processes. “On the flip side, education is being disrupted heavily by generative AI,” the type of AI that generates content, Bateman added.

The forum will include introductions and discussions from senior leaders, TED-talk style presentations and break-out sessions.

“It’s really been a labor of love,” Bullock said.

Registration remains open to Air Force and Department of Defense personnel. Go to AFIT.EN.AITREC@us.af.mil to start that process.