The first loop in the history of aviation was flown by a machine, with no pilot on board… and with very limited “intelligence”; that was in 1913. Engineers then invented the autopilot and other intelligent systems able to support pilots and ease their decisions across the many missions and roles of aviation. Aerobatic pilots have hardly used this technological progress to develop their art. But what would an aerobatic competition between intelligent aircraft mean, or an air show flown by AI-piloted aeroplanes? If flying is not unique to humans, can humans do without the freedom that flight offers?
Does the freedom of flying humans begin where AI’s freedom ends?