US Air Force denies report of AI-powered UAV attacking operator
2 June 2023
The US Air Force (USAF) is denying reports that an unmanned aerial system (UAS) powered by artificial intelligence turned against its operators during an exercise.
Recent comments by a USAF test pilot at a Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) summit in London appeared to indicate such an event had occurred during a training exercise simulation.
While speaking at the 23 May RAeS event, Colonel Tucker ‘Cinco’ Hamilton, the USAF chief of AI test and operations, appeared to state that an AI-powered combat UAS had attacked its operators during a simulation, when orders from human overseers went against its mission objective.
According to the RAeS transcript of his remarks, Hamilton said the incident occurred during a suppression of enemy air defences exercise, in which the UAS was tasked with destroying surface to air missile sites on the ground.
“At times the human operator would tell it not to kill that threat, but it got its points by killing that threat,” Hamilton recalled. “So what did it do? It killed the operator. It killed the operator because that person was keeping it from accomplishing its objective,” he added.
Hamilton, who is a rated F-15 and F-35 pilot, went on, saying the simulation team subsequently trained the AI not to attack its operator.
“So what does it start doing? It starts destroying the communication tower that the operator uses to communicate with the drone, to stop it from killing the target,” he said.
The Pentagon now says the experienced test pilot misspoke.
“It appears the colonel’s comments were taken out of context and were meant to be anecdotal,” says air force representative Ann Stefanek on 2 June.
“The department of the air force has not conducted any such AI-drone simulations and remains committed to ethical and responsible use of AI technology,” she adds. “This was a hypothetical thought experiment, not a simulation.
The RAeS is also confirming Hamilton’s original comments were misunderstood. The group says the USAF officer “admits he ‘mis-spoke’ in his presentation”.
https://www.flightglobal.com/military-u ... 34.article