During a training flight, the US military experimented with AI takeover of systems in a jet fighter. According to a report in the Washington Post, AI took over both the navigation and sensors of a U2 spy plane during this flight.
According to US Air Force secretary Will Roper, it is the first time that AI has been used to fully control an American fighter plane. However, the Air Force emphasizes that the AI has not taken over the controls and weapon systems. It is striking that the AI deliberately did not have a manual override to make the test more realistic.
Algorithms
The software used is from DeepMind, the AI branch of Google. Kubernetes were used to ensure that these publicly available algorithms could work with the fighter’s systems. According to an Air Force spokesperson, the purpose of the test was to show the entire defense apparatus the importance of working with AI.
