Researchers from the USA have developed an AI assistant that only lacks an astromech body from Star Wars to achieve sci-fi perfection.
Do the USA now have astromechs in fighter jets? No, there is no R2D2 sitting behind the pilots in F35 or F22 fighter jets of the US Air Force or any other branches of the United States military. However, a first step in this direction has been taken with the prototype of the Virtual Intelligent Pear-Reasoning agents, also known as VIPR.
What is VIPR? VIPR is a virtual co-pilot for aircraft crews that can also take control of the aircraft. Whether it can independently trigger weapons or select targets is not known. However, it reads in the article from the developing Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of Johns Hopkins University not so.
John Winder, a computer scientist at APL who co-leads the project, refers in the text to the famous astromech droid R2D2. That droid faithfully supports Anakin Skywalker and later his son Luke – whether in transit or in the cockpit of starfighters.
What can VIPR do? Of course, we do not have technical documentation, but according to APL’s information, the following is possible:
- Acceptance of voice commands
- The role of a co-pilot to assist in handling aircraft systems
- Active control of the jet as well as fluid transition from pilot to co-pilot and vice versa
- Communication with members of the combat unit (squadron)
- Parallel control of several unmanned aerial vehicles in conjunction with the own jet
- Continuous, constant monitoring of the airspace around the aircraft (radar, cameras, etc.)
- Perception of the cognitive state of the pilot
- Estimation of the pilot’s intentions before he actively issues commands
Is VIPR already in use everywhere? No, so far only tests have been conducted, but everyone who has tried it has been quite enthusiastic. And according to the team, it seems to even make untrained individuals competitive, as one of the lead developers explains:
I, as a non-pilot, might survive about eight seconds in a virtual simulation. With VIPR, I win.
John Winder, APL
When will VIPR be widely used? That is not known. Next, flight tests are planned in real aircraft with real external combat pilots from the armed forces. So far, only internally employed, but also trained as combat pilots, individuals have tested VIPR in the simulator.
Artificial intelligence can already do a lot today – even help with cheating. In another article on MeinMMO, we tell you about the bold plan of a university applicant in Turkey. What he attempted during a state exam will likely follow him for life: Because his cheating attempt with a camera, cell phone, and AI failed, but the police are quite impressed.
