Tiger Check – Automating the US Air Force Fighter Pilot in Air–to–Air Combat, 1950–1980

How might automation affect the work and identity of professionals? Look to the history of fighter pilots in the excellent book Tiger Check. In fighter jets, automation was a skill-biased technical change. Over time, pilots needed to spend more time studying their equipment and the science behind it, particularly when paired against others with automated systems. Automation led to new skill requirements. The fighter pilot identity needed to evolve to focus on mastery of the skills needed to operate the machines, even as those skills changed from maneuvering to radar manipulation to interflight communication. Expect the same of other professionals, from surgeons to journalists to financial analysts. Success, and the identity that comes with it, will be built on mastering the technology as it evolves. As Erik Brynjolfsson put it, “Managers who know how to use machine learning will replace managers that don’t.”