The Department of the Air Force (DAF) is intensifying its endeavors to incorporate generative artificial intelligence into its operations, introducing a novel experimental GenAI chatbot.

The chatbot, dubbed NIPRGPT, is designed to respond to inquiries and aid in various tasks including correspondence, background papers, and coding, all within a secure computing environment.

Launched by the Air Force Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), NIPRGPT is integrated into the Dark Saber software platform, crafted at the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate in Rome, New York.

Dark Saber serves as an ecosystem uniting Airmen and Guardians from across the DAF, fostering collaboration among innovators and developers. It empowers them to craft next-generation software and operational capabilities, ready for rapid deployment throughout the Force.

“Our recent GenAI Roundtables with industry and academia have shown us this is an actively growing field. Now is the time to give our Airmen and Guardians the flexibility to develop the necessary skills in parallel. There are multiple modernization efforts going on right now across the federal government and within the DAF to get tools in the hands of the workforce. This tool is another one of those efforts,” Venice Goodwine, DAF Chief Information Officer, said.

“NIPRGPT is a critical bridge to ensure we get the best tools we have into our team’s hands while larger commercial tools are navigating our intense security parameters and other processes,” said Alexis Bonnell, AFRL Chief Information Officer. 

“Changing how we interact with unstructured knowledge is not instant perfection; we each must learn to use the tools, query, and get the best results. NIPRGPT will allow Airmen and Guardians to explore and build skills and familiarity as more powerful tools become available,” Bonnell added.