DARPA is also testing how human pilots interact with AI to examine how well they trust machines to automatically conduct dogfights. Air Force pilots have flown L-29 jet trainers also running AI algorithms at the University of Iowa Technology Institute's Operator Performance Laboratory.

Air Force test pilots have flown numerous live flights in L-29 jet trainers at the University of Iowa Technology Institute’s Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL), an ACE performer. The two-seat L-29 jets at OPL are outfitted with sensors in the cockpit to measure pilot physiological responses, giving researchers clues as to whether the pilot is trusting the AI or not.

In less than three years, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms developed under DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program have progressed from controlling simulated F-16s flying aerial dogfights on computer screens to controlling an actual F-16 in flight. University of Iowa's Operator Performance Lab has contributed to the progress.

Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL) director and University of Iowa industrial engineering professor Tom “Mach” Schnell briefed national security leaders on a project seeking to improve artificial intelligence in aerial combat.

Tom "Mach" Schnell, a University of Iowa industrial engineering professor and director of Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL), and Lt. Col. Patrick "Dice" Highland, a recent UI PhD and Commander of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Detachment 3 in San Diego, Calif., briefed national security leaders on a project that aims to improve artificial intelligence in aerial combat.