US Air Force colonel said he “misspoke”about an AI drone “killing” a human operator during a simulation

A U.S. Air Force official said he “misspoke” saying an AI drone “killed” a human operator during a simulation test. This was reported in an email by the Royal Aeronautical Society, at the event of which Colonel Tucker “Cinco” Hamilton made a corresponding statement, writes The Vice.

”Col Hamilton admits he ‘mis-spoke’ in his presentation at the FCAS Summit and the ‘rogue AI drone simulation’ was a hypothetical “thought experiment” from outside the military, based on plausible scenarios and likely outcomes rather than an actual USAF real-world simulation,” the organization’s email says.

According to Tucker Hamilton, who is quoted in the society, no such experiment was conducted.

“We’ve never run that experiment, nor would we need to in order to realise that this is a plausible outcome,” the colonel noted. “Despite this being a hypothetical example, this illustrates the real-world challenges posed by AI-powered capability and is why the Air Force is committed to the ethical development of AI.”

The press secretary of the US Air Force, Ann Stefanek, also denied conducting such tests in an interview with Insider.

“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 said. “It appears the colonel’s comments were taken out of context and were meant to be anecdotal.”

Col. Tucker “Cinco” Hamilton, Operations Commander of the 96th Test Wing of the U.S. Air Force as well as the Chief of AI Test and Operations, previously said that AI drone went out of control and “killed” its human operator during a simulated Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) mission, because it was preventing him from completing the mission.