Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

 

DARPA Funding AI Fighter Pilots

ACE (Air Combat Evolution) is a DARPA video game of sorts, but the American research agency plans to make it all real by the end of 2021. The program started last year and is currently in Phase 1, which calls for the AI to engage in virtual dogfights with opponents.

In August 2020, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) was tasked with conducting the so-called AlphaDogfight trials, pitting eight simulated, AI-controlled F-16s against one another in 1-v-1 aerial skirmishes. The AI that emerged victorious was then told to fight “an experienced F-16 fighter pilot in a simulator,” and the computer beat the human five times in a row.

In February this year, DARPA heated things up a notch by going for 2-v-1 teaming combat, simulating engagements of two F16s working together to bring down a single enemy F16. The system had to rely on more weapons this time, including simulated gun and missiles.

Sci-fi movie fans might recall the 2015 movie Stealth, which pitted human pilots against jets controlled by artificial intelligences.

DARPA is quite willing to go that far, yet:

Unlike the F/A-37 Talon plane in the movie Stealth, the AI will not be solely in control of the airplane; a pilot will also be on deck, in the designated seat. Still, ACE’s goal is to allow the AI to automatically conduct combat maneuvers while the pilot is otherwise occupied handling “higher-cognitive battle [...] decisions.”

Always helpful, science fiction authors are happy to meet DARPA halfway. In his excellent 1999 novel Starfish, Peter Watts presents the idea of a smart gel, made of cultured human neurons:

"It's one of those smart gels," Ray said at last... "Head cheese. Cultured brains on a slab. The same things they've been plugging into the Net to firewall infections."
(Read more about smart gels)

Via autoevolution.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/29/2021)

Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.

| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |

Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.

Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )

Related News Stories - (" Artificial Intelligence ")

Virtual Rat Predicts Actual Rat Neural Activity
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.' - William Callahan, 1939.

WiFi and AI Team Up To See Through Walls
'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...' - Nat Schachner, 1937.

Does The Shortage Of Human Inputs Limit AI Development?
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.' - Anthony Boucher, 1943.

Singapore Writers Push Back On LLM Training
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.' - Anthony Boucher, 1943.

 

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Current News

Chaffeur Robot Musashi Will Drive Your Regular Car
'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'

Space Exporers! Now, You Can Drink Your Own Urine
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'

SpaceX EVA Spacesuit Tested By Polaris Dawn Crew
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'

Automatic Bot Traffic Is 38 Percent Of HTTP Requests
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'

Shanghai Guidelines For Humanoid Robots
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'

Desktop TARS Robot From Interstellar
What's YOUR sarcasm setting?

Robots Can Now Have Smiling Faces With Human Skin
'I am a cybernetic organism...'

Virtual Rat Predicts Actual Rat Neural Activity
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'

GoSun EV Solar Charger Drapes Onto Your Car
'...six square yards of sunpower screens.'

Rizon 4 Ironing Robot
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'

Cognify - A Prison Of The Mind We've Seen Before In SF
'So I serve a hundred years in one day...'

Robot With Human Brain Organoid - 'A Thrilling Story Of Mechanistic Progress'
'A human brain snugly encased in a transparent skull-shaped receptacle.'

Goodness Gracious Me! Google Tries Face Recognition Security
'The actuating mechanism that should have operated by the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell...'

With Mycotecture, We'll Just Grow The Space Habitats We Need
'The only real cost was in the plastic balloon that guided the growth of the coral and enclosed the coral's special air-borne food.'

Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier?
'The border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'

WiFi and AI Team Up To See Through Walls
'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.