Airmen criticize Air Force’s use of AI in suicide prevention training as ‘uncomfortable and odd’; Task & Purpose, September 30, 2026

 AUSTIN CAMPBELL, Task & Purpose; Airmen criticize Air Force’s use of AI in suicide prevention training as ‘uncomfortable and odd’

"The materials that make up the 2026 Suicide Prevention Total Force Awareness Training use several video segments with AI-generated characters, scenarios and presenters to deliver portions of the annual instruction required across the force. The Air Force did not specify which portions of the video presentations were AI-generated.

The videos, which are used in training for all Air Force and Space Force members, depict airmen showing signs of stress and distress in fictional scenarios. The videos are intended, an official told Task & Purpose, to lead to facilitator-led discussions as groups watch them. Training notes distributed online with videos even go so far as to note in all caps that “watching the video alone does not meet the training requirement.”

Since the videos began being used across the Air Force this year, they have drawn sharp criticism from rank-and-file service members.

“I think to take such a human subject and to take the humanity from it is insensitive and feels as if the Air Force doesn’t recognize the impact of this training,” one Air Force member told Task & Purpose. The airman, a senior leader who works in Air Force mental health and who has dealt directly with patient suicides by Air Force members, spoke on the condition that their name not be used.

“Does it meet the intent? Yes. Does it do it well? That would depend on the individual airman. For me it felt cold and unnatural,” they said. “Allowing AI to teach like this with little to no emotion and no human experience makes it feel uncomfortable and odd.”

Intellectual property and entrepreneurship resources for the military community; United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), May 31, 2024

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); Intellectual property and entrepreneurship resources for the military community

"Earlier this month at Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico, an Army veteran and business owner said he wished this valuable USPTO program had been around when he started his business.

Entrepreneurship Essentials Roadshows are part of the From Service to Success program and reflect the USPTO’s mission of inclusive innovation, meeting potential entrepreneurs and small business owners where they are with targeted programming. Roadshows visit military bases worldwide and help by:

• Providing encouragement from military leadership.
• Sharing tips from experts on obtaining funding, identifying markets, writing and executing business plans, and hearing from other entrepreneurs.
• Offering practical information to protect valuable innovations.
• Networking with other entrepreneurs."

Pitt researcher’s work featured by U.S. Patent & Trademark Office; Trib Live, November 12, 2019

Patrick Varine, Trib Live; Pitt researcher’s work featured by U.S. Patent & Trademark Office

"Rory Cooper, who was recognized earlier this year by the office with a trading card created to honor U.S. inventors, holds more than two dozen patents related to mobility-improvement research. Cooper is the director at Pitt’s Human Energy Research Laboratories, a U.S. Army veteran and also serves as director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America Research Foundation...

Cooper was recognized in the patent office’s SUCCESS report, an update on progress achieved through the 2018 Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success (SUCCESS) Act. The act aims to promote patent applications by women, minorities, veterans, the disabled and other underrepresented classes.

“Without diversity of thought, potentially life changing work for wheel chair users and others with disabilities might not be possible,” Cooper said. “We have a world-class team at our labs that is committed to helping people with disabilities and older adults live full lives and contribute to society as much as they can and they like.”"