WASHINGTON – On December 15, the United States Air Force army successfully flew a U-2 spy plane controlled by an AI copilot in California, making this the first time in the history of Department of Defense that an AI took flight abroad a military aircraft. Furthermore, this is a major step towards AI being deployed in warfare.
Dr. Roper, who serves as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, said that the mission was a demonstration of ‘how completely our military must embrace AI to maintain the battlefield decision advantage’.
The autonomous future is almost here. However, the current age AI can be easily fooled by enemies’ tactics, precisely what future warfare will throw at it.
(1 of 2) NEW. For the first time, @usairforce put #AI safely in charge of a US military system. Call sign “Artuμ,” we modified world-leading μZero gaming algorithms to operate the U-2’s radar. This first AI copilot even served as mission commander on its seminal training flight! pic.twitter.com/bjdBZkjiUO
— Will Roper (@WILLROP3R) December 16, 2020
According to Dr. Roper, the U.S. army modified world-leading μZero gaming algorithms to operate the U-2’s radar. This algorithm is so strong that it dominates chess, Go, and even video games without prior knowledge of their rules.
This mission comes just four months after an AI pilot defeated a US Air Force pilot in a virtual F-16 dogfight, fought over several rounds on a computer simulation.
An open from leading AI and robotics researchers in 2015 warned that ‘a global arms race is virtually inevitable’ if major military powers continue to push ahead with AI weapon development.
