AI beats US Air Force F-16 pilot in a virtual flight simulation competition; details here

An artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm built by tech giant company Heron Systems has defeated a human US Air Force pilot in the final round of the United States Defense Advanced Research Project Agency's (DARPA) AlphaDog Trials. The human Air Force pilot was beaten by the AI in a score point of 5-0 in virtual air-to-air combat. This was one of its kind event which was streamed by viewers majorly on YouTube after the original platform couldn't handle the viewer capacity on August 20, 2020. 

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AI beats human pilot

The event comprised of three rounds of AI algorithms created by different manufacturer contractors which simulated F-16 Fighting Falcons in aerial combat. The first round comprised of eight teams flying their respective algorithms against five AI algorithms created by the Applied Physics Laboratory of the John Hopkins University. Teams went against each other in a round titled 'Robin-Round' in the second test. For the third test, the top four teams competed in a single-elimination round to fly against a human pilot. 

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In the simulated air-to-air fight, two F-16 aircrafts were individually piloted by an AI and a human respectively. The human pilot went by the name of Banger and the two pilots exceeded the speeds of 500 MPH and turned and twisted through the virtually created airspace. The human pilot was seen wearing a virtual reality helmet which allowed him to get a cockpit view of the airspace. The computer program beat the human pilot easily through the course of five rounds. 

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Image courtesy - still from AlphaDogfight Trials Final Event (YouTube)

According to DARPA's official website, the eight teams which participated in the third trial have been listed below -

• Aurora Flight Sciences

• EpiSys Science

• Georgia Tech Research Institute

• Heron Systems

• Lockheed Martin

• Perspecta Labs

• PhysicsAI

• SoarTech

As the virtual contest took off on YouTube, DARPA Deputy David Honey, in his opening notes shared that before AI can find its place in the cockpit, it has to 'earn its wings' first. The AIs are being tested in order to prove that they can actually fly the fighter jets and can contribute in testing situations. DARPA has been vocal in the past about exploring the use of AI in different military operations. The agency had previously helped in the development of an autonomous ship which cruised from San Diego to Hawaii without any human contribution. 

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