Yahoo Autos China says its fighter pilots are battling AI aircraft in simulated dogfights, and humans aren't the only ones learning
China has been pitting pilots against AI-driven aircraft in training simulations.
A commander told the PLA Daily that the AI aircraft were "sharpening the sword" for Chinese pilots.
The AI was also learning, highlighting the potential for AI systems in China's armed forces.
Chinese fighter pilots have been battling aircraft piloted by artificial intelligence in simulated dogfights to boost pilot combat skills, Chinese media reported this week.
Fang Guoyu, a People's Liberation Army Air Force brigade flight team leader and pilot recognized for his skills, was recently "shot down" by an AI adversary in an air-to-air combat simulation, according to People's Liberation Army Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese military.
He said that early in the training it was easy to defeat the AI adversary. But with each round of combat, the AI reportedly learned from its human opponent. After one fight that Fang won with a bit of skillful flying, the AI came back and used the same tactics against him, defeating him.
"It's like a digital 'Golden Helmet' pilot that excels at learning, assimilating, reviewing, and researching," Fang said, referring to the elite pilots who emerge victorious in China's Golden Helmet air-combat contests. "The move with which you defeated it today will be in its hands tomorrow."
Du Jianfeng, the brigade commander, told the newspaper that AI was increasingly being incorporated into training.
It "is skilled at handling the aircraft and makes flawless tactical decisions," he said, characterizing the AI adversary as a useful tool for "sharpening the sword" because it forces the Chinese pilots to get creative.
'Sharpening the sword'
China is striving to build a modern military with the ability to fight and win wars by the middle of this century. It has made progress in recent years in its air-combat element, even developing a fifth-generation stealth fighter.
But far more challenging and time-consuming than closing the technology gap is cultivating the critical knowledge and experience required to effectively operate a modern fighting force.
Chinese media didn't offer specifics on the simulator, which they said was developed by the military in cooperation with research institutes, so there are still questions about whether the AI adversary provides sufficiently realistic training to prepare pilots to dogfight manned aircraft.
"If it does, that's pretty good," retired US Navy Cmdr. Guy Snodgrass, a former TOPGUN instructor and an expert in artificial intelligence, told Insider.
"If it doesn't," he continued, "you're really just training human operators to fight AI, and that is probably not what they are going to be going up against," since there are no autonomous AI-driven fighter aircraft they would need to be prepared to fight.
"There could be a divergence between real capability in a dogfight or aerial battle versus what the AI is presenting," he said. If that's the case, it could be a wasted effort.
If it's a high-fidelity training simulator, though, it could lower the cost of the air-combat training, as "you're able to get that training at a price point that's much lower than actually putting real planes in the air," Snodgrass said. It also lowers the risk.
