For anyone who’s the least bit paranoid, the artificial-intelligence winning streak of late is probable somewhat unnerving. When considering the fact that an AI just defeated human fighter pilots in air combat, it’s perhaps time to ask ourselves how fast and how far this is going.
The just completed series of combats was carried out at the US Air Force Research Lab, and featured some of the most experienced people in this specific field, including retired Colonel Gene Lee. He himself is responsible for training thousands of today’s active fighter pilots, so the result should hold water. The opponent was ALPHA, an artificial intelligence developed at University of Cincinnati.
Although the battle field was a simulator, and the ”air” combat was carried out in a very controlled environment, the implications are hard to ignore: Will future armed conflict also include unmanned air combat? How soon will drones, albeit already immensely technical machines, advance from being remote controlled – to taking decisions themselves?
ALPHA can calculate strategies based on its opponent’s movements 250 times faster than a person can blink—a speed that gives it an undeniable advantage in an arena where a mix of advanced skills in aerospace physics and intuition are required.
– Futurism.com