Shot down: A retired Air Force colonel takes a hit in the simulator from the ALPHA AI warplane. Every time artificial intelligence (AI) beats a human in something, the world cries "Skynet" and assumes the robot takeover is about to happen. Whereas we definitely don't have to worry about that happening anytime soon, a new AI has wandered onto the stage and, for once, a Terminator film series-inspired machine revolution appears to be somewhat possible. Writing in the Journal of Defense Management, a team of researchers describe how their AI – dubbed "ALPHA" – has recently bested its most formidable opponent, retired United States Air Force Colonel Gene Lee, in a series of war games. Specifically, this AI was designed to engage in simulated air combat against human opponents, and this particular ranking officer has considerable aerial combat experience.