AI Just Flew an F-16 for 17 Hours. This Could Change Everything.

Move over, Maverick: artificial intelligence (AI) may soon be the next hot fighter jock in the skies. An AI agent recently flew Lockheed Martin's VISTA X-62A for more than 17 hours at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (USAF TPS) at Edwards Air Force Base in California--the first time AI was used on a tactical aircraft. The experimental training aircraft is expected to lay the groundwork for a coming wave of jets piloted entirely by computers. The VISTA, developed by Lockheed's Skunk Works and Calspan Corporation, is fitted with software that allows it to mimic the performance characteristics of other aircraft. The test plane is a modified F-16D Block 30 Peace Marble Il aircraft upgraded with Block 40 avionics.