DARPA on the right track in unmanned dogfight that demonstrates capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI)

Sept. 10, 2020
Fighter pilots need to be convinced of the capabilities of AI in combat beyond current practice; DARPA’s AlphaDogfight is a step in this direction.

WASHINGTON – Artificial intelligence (AI) prevailed against a human in DARPA’s recent AlphaDogfight trials. Given that DeepMind’s AI achieved the level of grandmaster in the StarCraft II video game, AI beating a human in a simulated closed world contest is not impressive. What is impressive is AlphaDogfight’s role in DARPA’s overall plan for the development of AI in the military. Mind Matters reports. Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

10 Sept. 2020 -- The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is to prevent strategic military surprise by supplying fertile ground where new and revolutionary ideas can sprout and grow.

DARPA has played a role in self-driving cars. More than a decade and a half ago, DARPA’s Grand Challenge offered a million-dollar prize for unmanned vehicles traversing a given track. Many of the participants went on to pursue the commercial development of self-driving cars.

We need to examine history to assess how we should adopt new AI weapons to encounters like an aircraft dogfight. Military adoption of AI requires the application of psychology. Col. Dan Javorsek, the DARPA project manager for AlphaDogfight, recounts a lesson in psychology from military history that can be applied to today’s AI.

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Related: DARPA eyes heavier reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) and unmanned aircraft in dogfighting

John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics

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