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To: Physicist
What he forgot is that computers double their capabilities every 18 months.

Capacity, is only number crunching. The rules for Chess do not change. ACM tactics change constantly, and it is the pilot that recongnizes those changes, in able to best use his aircraft against any one of dozens of potential fighter threats, at different speeds, altitudes, weather conditions, day-night, radar and hundreds of other factors, that will win the day. From the ground, you stand as much chance against another pilot, as some child with a video game.

You will never create a computer that can tell me whether my tally is losing energy in a turn, or how hard he is pulling based solely on the vortex coming from his LEX. Oh wait, does he have a LEX, or canards, what might his fuel state be; depending on what base he probably came from, how much burner time has he got available? Is he a 2ship or a 4ship from my radar return alone? Can I beam him if he gets a snap off against me? I could go on for days.

Now, someday, someone could likely program all those sensors into a fighter aircraft and return that data to the ground in about 3-4 seconds allowing someone to take positive action. The only problem is that if I'm in the plane, and I cant figure out and act on that information in less than 2 seconds, I will probably get my ass shot off. I wont be holding my breath waiting for some badass computer fighter jock to take the place of a man in the seat.

47 posted on 11/23/2003 6:51:46 PM PST by Pukin Dog (Sans Reproache)
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To: Pukin Dog
They will be just like auto pilots, they can only react, and can never anticipate!
64 posted on 11/23/2003 7:43:16 PM PST by dalereed (,)
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To: Pukin Dog
You will never create a computer that can tell me

The things you named so far are all things that (obviously, to me) a computer can do better and faster than a human. But maybe there are a hundred reasons lurking in there where you're right. A hundred failures later, they'll be identified and fixed, and they'll never be reasons again.

Now, someday, someone could likely program all those sensors into a fighter aircraft and return that data to the ground in about 3-4 seconds allowing someone to take positive action.

There will be no information returned to the ground, and nobody will take any action, positive or negative. The aircraft will make the decisions, and the decisions will take milliseconds. Acquiring and processing information is what computers do best of all, and every 18 months, they get twice as good at it.

66 posted on 11/23/2003 7:48:10 PM PST by Physicist
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