Let the human take the missile up his -

Nice to see the AIs have good self-preservation instincts.

Isn't that the Third Law

Only if such self-preservation doesn't conflict with #1 and #2. But the problem with science fiction AIs are that they can learn to look after themselves and never mind the meat popsicles.

Save the Navigator

*smiles so very big... indeed they do...

Vix

Standing applause to the GIB
This smacks of the Air Force Lament when the prop jockeys were in command of the early gen fast movers and they never had gotten painted by a SAM.
Just needed a Kobayashi Maru type answer to save the day.

*smiles so very very big... thanks so much Broaster...

Vix

Reminds me of Rear-Admiral Tug Benson from Hot Shots, shot down on every mission, states he never actually landed a plane ;)

Maybe this AI survived 200 missions because he had the good sense to eject on every one of them? ;)

**laughs... maybeeeeeeeee......

Vix

Is this how machine learning happens in the future? One successful machine teaching new machines. The idea entertains me so much. I also wonder why we are so obsessed with the idea of true AI. Maybe a machine can never truly be self-aware. We don't even really know what consciousness is. They just hope that if they make a machine complex enough, something will emerge.

Good read. I have been playing one space-themed game lately, so my imagination was quite vivid when reading this. I enjoyed it.

*laughs... thanks so very much Panzer...

Vix

Robots are hard to make, where humans are replicating all the time!!! xP

and there you have put your finger on it!!!!!

Vix

During most of the soviet era, jet engines had a service life of only 1500 hours. The idea being why spend the money on engineering and maintenance for an 8000 hour engine, when the plane will never last that long in combat. QUANTITY is a quality of its own.

now that's interesting...

Vix

Now that I didn't know, interesting. Though of course that quantity / quality thing only functions if the disparity isn't too great, if it is no matter how many tanks, for example, you throw at the enemy all you're doing is providing them with more targets. Look at the tank battles in the first (second?) Gulf War in the early 90's, the most danger the allied forces had from the Soviet supplied tanks was running out of ammunition. Granted they weren't the frontline top-of-the-range tanks NATO would have faced in Europe but really it wasn't even a competition.

And that caused China to sit up and take notice, they've been moving to quality rather than quantity as well and their new military equipment certainly looks the part.

Short and nice story

thank you Werty...

Vix

Nothing like a little AI dark comedy to brighten up the day.

*laughs... why thank you... Danger Will Robinson! That does not compute!

Vix

Well, at least the 'students' know what to do when in the right scenario. Very nicely done, for sure.

*smiles very big... thank you...

Vix

Get out while the getting is good. Been there, done that in my career and "lived" to tell about it...so to speak.

*smiles... me too...

Vix

Now ya know why I would never fly with an AI or AP or CPU.

but!!!! perhaps you actually have and not known it... CAT 5 aircraft have been around a long time now...

Vix

Fly IN? Yes. I have. Fly myself as pilot? NO. N freakin O. Never. Keep dem freakin AI's outa my plane!

*laughs...

Vix

My very 1st ever time in an airplane was in an old steerman being used as a crop duster in Florida. NO AI. Some cables... a hard seat... and my hair everywhere. Also, flying on the ground is wrong (Just ask Neil)... but a HELLUVA lotta fun!!!!!

I went through the electronic transition on the big boys, and the old ones all had manual reversion so you always had a chance. The DC-9 didn’t even have hydraulics to the elevators, and it worked just fine.

Vix

That was fun to read, very enjoyable. Made me curious about the world depicted in the story, despite it being very short, haha.

*smiles big... I always enjoy getting people to laugh...

Vix

A lovely story V.
Your character conversations have such a nice flow to them.
Nice stuff ^w^

*smiles so very big... thank you HAAS...

Vix