Marine Corps seeks AI chatbot to support geospatial intelligence system

The Marine Corps is looking for an artificial intelligence chatbot to complement an existing intelligence system used to collect and process data for battlefield decision making, according to a request for information published Thursday.

According to the notice, the Marine Corps is looking for readily available AI chatbot technology that can receive requests from and output textual responses to personnel using the Distributed Common Ground/Surface System-Marine Corps (DCGS-MC) Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) Program.

The DCGS-MC GEOINT system supports battlefield decision-making by providing Marines with “near-real-time geospatially referenced data and products supporting the full spectrum of Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF), joint and multinational partners operations,” the notice states.

“The Marine Corps is reaching out to vendors to see what technology is available to provide an artificial intelligence chatbot capability to receive, parse and output information pertaining to Marine Corps geospatial processes, requirements, and workflows through natural language processing,” the RFI continues.

The service is planning a vendor demonstration in the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, the notice adds. Responses to the notice are required by Oct. 20.

The Marine Corps’ FY-24 budget request includes $27 million for DCGS-MC GEOINT.

According to budget documents, FY-24 plans include a technical refresh that will upgrade the system’s software and procure new “common geospatial workstations” to support use by the service’s new Marine Littoral Regiments.