U-2 spy plane flies with artificial intelligence co-pilot

The Air Force this week put a groundbreaking co-pilot aboard a U-2 spy plane flight: artificial intelligence.

Air Force officials confirmed that the AI system, known as “Artuμ,” successfully operated the plane’s radar system during the flight and also served as “mission commander” for the plane.

The flight represents a major step forward for the Pentagon’s AI initiatives and could pave the way for machines to eventually pilot military aircraft on their own. Military leaders say that the battles of the future will require humans and AI to work closely together.

“For the first time, @usairforce put #AI safely in charge of a US military system. Call sign “Artuμ,” we modified world-leading μZero gaming algorithms to operate the U-2’s radar,” Will Roper, the Air Force’s assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, said in a Twitter post on Wednesday. “This first AI copilot even served as mission commander on its seminal training flight!”

“Like any pilot, Artuμ (even the real R2-D2) has strengths and weaknesses,” he said. “Understanding them to prep both humans and AI for a new era of algorithmic warfare is our next imperative step. We either become sci-fi or become history.”

AI systems will be central to military strategy in the years to come. There already are signs that AI systems are capable of defeating even the most trained service members.

Earlier this year, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, held another round of combat simulations between AI and human pilots. The AI system easily defeated the pilot.

The Defense Department is planning a 2024 showdown between an actual F-16 piloted by AI and one controlled by a human.