Advancements in AI have been coming thick and fast and are already showing signs of bettering the world in ways we never even imagined were possible. Whenever talk of artificial intelligence crops up there’s always the far-fetched, Terminator-esque thoughts that come with it - what if we’re playing a dangerous game here? Whilst these possibilities are consigned to science fiction, on such achievement has been made that worry some. An AI has just downed an expert human pilot in a dogfight simulation.
A pilot A.I. developed by a doctoral graduate from the University of Cincinnati has shown that it can not only beat other A.I.s, but also a professional fighter pilot with decades of experience. In a series of flight combat simulations, the A.I. successfully evaded retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Gene "Geno" Lee, and shot him down every time. In a statement, Lee called it "the most aggressive, responsive, dynamic and credible A.I. I've seen to date."
Geno is a former Air Force Battle Manager and adversary tactics instructor who has controlled or flown in thousands of air-to-air intercepts as mission commander or pilot. He's been fighting A.I. opponents in flight simulators for decades but felt there was something different about this one; “It seemed to be aware of my intentions and reacting instantly to my changes in flight and my missile deployment” he said. “It knew how to defeat the shot I was taking. It moved instantly between defensive and offensive actions as needed."
The A.I., dubbed ALPHA, was created by Psibernetix, a company founded by University of Cincinnati doctoral graduate Nick Ernest in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory. ALPHA's flying skills come from a decision-making system called a genetic fuzzy tree, a subtype of fuzzy logic algorithms. The system approaches problems much like a human would; breaking the larger task into smaller tasks, which included high-level tactics, firing, evasion, and defence. By considering only the most relevant variables, it can make complex decisions with remarkable speed - over 250 times faster than a human can even blink.
For those worrying about a robot uprising, have no fear - the idea isn’t to replace human fighter pilots. According to Ernest, this AI may ultimately act as a kind of digital assistant that provides real-time advice to pilots. Impressive stuff, where will AI take us next?
