Conducted last year by the United States Air Force , a modified F-16 went toe-to-toe with a human pilot in a death-defying battle of wits.Details have been publically released of what might be the first in-flight aerial dogfight simulation between an artificial intelligence and a living and breathing human pilot.
It has been claimed that this development could revolutionize the future of unmanned aerial vehicles , such as the U.S. Air Force’s The ACE program has been making remarkable progress in 2023, with the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and the Air Force Research Laboratory playing crucial roles in its success.ACE involves various industry and academic partners, including Shield AI, which acquired Heron Systems in 2021. They are the ones who developed an AI “pilot” that won DARPA’sHowever, these “victories” were somewhat “artificial,” to borrow a phrase, as the AI pilots did not have to adhere to flying norms.
The new dogfight was also part of DARPA’s and the USAF’s mission to make AI-enabled aircraft more “trustable” for human crew.also known as the Variable-stability In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft , is a heavily modified two-seat F-16D. Its flight systems can be adjusted to replicate those of almost any other aircraft, making it an exceptional surrogate for a wide range of testing purposes that require a real-world platform.