The US Air Force Is Planning To Put Human and AI In A Combat

For a long time, the US Air Force has been researching how it can integrate AI in its operations. Back in 2016, AI proved its power by beating some of the top tactical experts of the Air Force. Now, researchers have moved to design an autonomous drone to join in air-to-air combat with a piloted plane in July 2021.

Air Force Magazine reported that since 2018, the Air force Research Laboratory had been working on an autonomous fighter jet. The researchers planned to first equip less advanced planes like the F-16 with machine-learning technology before moving to newer models like the F-22 or F-35.

Of course, very little information has been revealed about this. After all, it is a military project, thus it is classified information. However, in a video, Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, head of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center at the Pentagon, said that the AFRL was pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence. He also added that the team was confident that the machine would defeat the human.

Shanahan stated that the Air Force would also take into consideration the cautionary tales taken from other areas of autonomous research.

We do not know whether the project will achieve its objectives but it joins the Air Force’s long list of explored AI innovations. Perhaps, the most notable one is the Skyborg drone project, aiming to build an AI-powered system to support pilots. The US military overall is planning to integrate machine learning to other areas of operations, from combat strategy to maintenance.

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