An AI-controlled warplane took a top Air Force leader on a groundbreaking test ride over California.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall sat in the cockpit as the experimental F-16 aircraft, called Vista, performed lightning-fast maneuvers at more than 550 mph over Edwards Air Force Base .
He came almost nose-to-nose with a second human-piloted F-16 as the two raced within 1,000 feet of each other, twisting and looping in an attempt to force their adversary in vulnerable positions.
AI-controlled F-16 (left) dueled with human-controlled opponent
Mr Kendall’s flight was a further declaration of confidence in artificial intelligence after the first known fight between a human pilot and an AI-controlled fighter jet last month.
Thursday’s flight lasted an hour and the US Air Force hopes to have more than 1,000 AI-controlled planes in the coming years.
“It’s a safety risk not to have it. At this point we have to have it,” Mr Kendall said after emerging from the cockpit, smiling.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall was in the cockpit. Photo: AP
Mr Kendall said there would always be human oversight when weapons are used. Photo: AP
Pilots working on Vista want the first fleet to be ready by 2028 and say the programs learn so quickly that some are already beating human pilots in combat.
The idea is that unmanned aircraft could launch an advanced attack against enemy defenses and penetrate airspace without high risk to human pilots.
But this change is also driven by cost, as AI planes are smaller and cheaper to produce.
The US Air Force is still hampered by delays and cost overruns in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, which is estimated to cost $1.7 trillion (£1.35 trillion).
Meanwhile, China’s air force is poised to outnumber the United States’ and is also developing unmanned weapons – although there is no indication yet that it has found a way to work. AI tests outside the simulator.
“Concerns about life and death decisions”
Vista’s operators, who have flown it about 20 times since September, say no other country has a similar AI plane – where the software learns on millions of data points in a simulator and then tests his conclusions on real flights.
Actual performance data is fed back into the simulator where the AI processes it to learn more.
Air Force boss Frank Kendall was so impressed that he said he would trust him to decide whether or not to launch weapons in war.
This is a controversial take. Arms control experts and humanitarian groups fear that AI will one day be capable of dropping bombs autonomously without further human consultation and are seeking to restrict its use.
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“There are serious, widespread concerns about ceding life and death decisions to sensors and software,” the International Committee of the Red Cross warned.
Mr Kendall said there would always be human oversight when weapons are used.
The pilots who program Vista are aware that they are potentially training their own replacements, but they would also dread facing the enemy AI fleet themselves.
“We have to keep running. And we have to run fast,” Mr. Kendall said.
