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An AI just embarrassed the US Air Force in a virtual dogfight:
We've already seen AI conquer masters of chess, Go, and StarCraft II. But could it defeat an Air Force pilot in a (virtual) dogfight?
[...] Heron [AI] quickly built up a 4-0 lead. Gunned down four times but somehow still alive, Banger [human] had no choice but to change up his gameplan.
"The standard things that we do as fighter pilots are not working, so for this last one, I'll try to change it up a little bit just to see if we can do something different," he said.
"That initial turn is where I lose a lot of life... I've just gotta look for opportunities to minimize that distance separation away from the adversary, try to get him back in so I press inside or stay outside his nose area."
Banger pulled up to 9Gs — nine times the force of gravity — and hit speeds over 500mph. He then dropped the jet down to 13,000 feet, trying to drag Heron close to the ground. The plan seemed to be working. Heron couldn't get its gun low enough to shoot.
But within a few seconds, the AI was back on Banger's tail. Lead commentator Chris "Disco" Demay called the action:
Just inside of 3,000 feet... Looks like Heron's saddling up — and with the kill.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by barbara hudson on Saturday August 22 2020, @02:28PM (7 children)
Interesting fact - the U-2 is one of the oldest aircraft in active service, and still has an average airframe lifespan left of 75%
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by Rupert Pupnick on Saturday August 22 2020, @02:40PM (2 children)
If the AI is so good that it can rack up a sufficiently large exchange ratio against opposing aircraft, it’s probably fine if the wings come off after the Nth kill, if N is large enough.
Also, aside from greater tolerance of G forces, an unmanned aircraft program has the potential to greatly reduce the costs and constraints associated with pilot training, readiness, rescue, etc.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 22 2020, @03:26PM
It's probably not a very large N, against humans, it just has to destroy enough planes that the pilots refuse to go up. Against other bots, it probably just needs to be more than 1 on average. For the US, for poorer countries, the N probably needs to be much higher.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Saturday August 22 2020, @05:20PM
Not to mention: the primary cost of a fighter jet is (usually) the pilot, and the primary cost of the pilot is in the expensive training. AI can download and share its training with future AIs in moments for near zero cost.
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(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 22 2020, @02:54PM (1 child)
And with AIs you don't always need as big a plane to kill, do dogfights or even do missions. In many cases AI missiles will do. If your missiles are less than 1/10th the cost of a fighter plane, the enemy is likely to run out of pilots, planes and other expensive targets before you run out of missiles. Missiles don't have to come back, especially if they succeed in their mission. So their effective range can be better.
The issue is if the AIs start getting fooled or confused.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday August 22 2020, @03:10PM
Maybe true. You don't want to get into a war of attrition with an opponent who controls more resources than you control. Imagine Taiwan going it alone against mainland China as an example. Keyword being "alone".
https://news.usni.org/2020/08/12/taiwan-retooling-defenses-to-counter-a-belligerent-china [usni.org]
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3088755/taiwan-fires-missile-test-part-asymmetric-warfare-against [scmp.com]
(Score: 2) by looorg on Saturday August 22 2020, @04:25PM
On the other hand if you design a craft based on it never having a pilot in it there is a lot less room and systems you would have to devote to keeping the human inside the craft alive and in relative comfort. So a plan designed and built without having a human pilot in mind will probably look somewhat different. So you could probably reduce such airframe wear and tear if you just design it from new specs more suitable for the ai-pilot in charge.
(Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Saturday August 22 2020, @05:04PM
What percentage of airframe life is spent/lost in extreme maneuvers?
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