For me, the question isn’t, ‘Can we train and qualify AI agents?’ It’s, ‘Why can we train and qualify humans, and what can this teach us about doing the same for AI agents?’ His brain can be freed up to think bigger thoughts.” For example, Cotting says, a first lieutenant with 100 hours of experience in the cockpit could artificially gain the same edge as a much higher-ranking officer with 1,000 hours of flight experience, thanks to AI augmentation.įor Bill Gray, chief test pilot at the USAF Test Pilot School, incorporating AI is a natural extension of the work he does with human students. “Whenever we talk to engineers and scientists about the difficulties of training and qualifying AI agents, they typically treat this as a new problem,” he says. “This bothers me, because I have been training and qualifying highly non-linear and unpredictable natural intelligence agents-students-for decades. He draws the analogy of soldiers of bygone campaigns riding into battle on horses. “The horse and the human had to work together,” he says. “The horse can run the trail really well, so the rider doesn’t have to worry about going from point A to B. “We’re not trying to replace pilots, we’re trying to augment them, give them an extra tool,” Cotting says. For more routine missions that do not require human input, flights could be entirely autonomous, with the nose-section of planes being swapped out when a cockpit is not required for a human pilot. With AACO and ACE capable of parsing millions of data inputs per second, and having the ability to take control of the plane at critical junctures, this could be vital in life-or-death situations. In some instances, AI copilot systems could act as a support mechanism for pilots in active combat. The Department of Defense stresses that AACO and ACE are designed to supplement human pilots, not replace them. Ryan Hefron explains that any hiccups were “to be expected when transitioning from virtual to live.” All in all, it was a significant step toward realizing Skyborg’s aim of getting autonomous aircraft off the ground as soon as possible. While not able to elaborate on the intricacies, DARPA program manager Lt. While VISTA requires a certified pilot in the rear cockpit as backup, during test flights, an engineer trained in the AI systems manned the front cockpit to deal with any technical issues that arose. Initiated in 2019, the Skyborg program will continue testing through 2023, with hopes of developing a working prototype by the end of the year. The breakthrough comes as part of a drive by the United States Air Force Vanguard to develop unmanned combat aerial vehicles. Overseen by the US Department of Defense, VISTA X-62A undertook 12 AI-led test flights between December 1 and 16, totaling more than 17 hours of autonomous flight time. While this may sound like business as usual for the US’s premier pilot training school-or like scenes lifted straight from Top Gun: Maverick-it was not a fighter pilot at the controls but, for the first time on a tactical aircraft, a sophisticated AI. Over the course of a short test flight, the VISTA engaged in advanced fighter maneuver drills, including simulated aerial dogfights, before landing successfully back at base. On the morning of December 1, 2022, a modified F-16 fighter jet codenamed VISTA X-62A took off from Edwards Air Force Base, roughly 60 miles north of Los Angeles.
0 kommentar(er)
