Do you give it the basics and expect it to learn as it fights? because a lot of pilots have died attempting that through the many wars, and if you do give it the ability to learn will it be able to pass this on via a data link to other AI aircraft, or will you be stuck at the learn as you go?
In this case they taught it nothing - even about the ground and how hard it is - and let it learn for itself.
If you equate that to science, they now use evolutionary algorithms to find new drugs and methods of design etc because the computer doesn’t have any preconceived ideas and they are finding solutions where humans never even thought to look. Which brings us back to the comment by Banger that it was doing things he had never seen/fought before. And of course the computer can be learn through millions of simulations in hours.
The main thing to note here is that the fight was in an environment where the computer knew where the enemy was at all times. Put it in an environment where the inputs are radar/IR/visual sensors with blind spots then, initially it may not be as effective as a human who extrapolate - but remember they said the same thing about chess computers.
To the computer everything is taking place in ultra slow time - it has the ability to change its mind a million times a second. The first iterations might be as an pilot assistance mode where it steps in to take action to save the aircraft from entering a position to get shot, or as a snapshot gun mode where it takes control to steer the nose and fire a burst for a kill - which is where the AI scored its kills in this trial. The next step, as in the current software which senses pilot incapacitation and takes over control, may be to press the button and let the AI take over the fight with the pilot monitoring.
The next step is incorporating the software into smart wingmen who are, like attack dogs, let off the leash and sent into the fight by the pilot of the command aircraft.
https://link.springer.com/article/10...21-020-04832-8