It may eventually be able to make many of these decisions all on its own or based on a set of parameters the crew defines beforehand.
It also leaves open the possibility that ALIAS might fully take the place of one or more crew members entirely, allowing for entirely unmanned flight. This, in turn, could further reduce the strain on aviators by allowing pilotless aircraft to take on a host of missions themselves as necessary.
If an ALIAS-equipped aircraft can perform various missions, even just simple tasks, such as low-risk resupply missions or just ferrying it from one location to another, U.S. military units would be able to allocate more of their pilots to more demand operational needs. ALIAS' ability to allow aviation units to do more with less actual personnel would be invaluable in an era of worrisome and chronic shortages of aviators.
The U.S. Army and Marine Corps have both become increasingly interested in autonomous resupply aircraft for exactly these reasons. The Marines notably deployed a pair of pilot-optional Kaman K-MAXhelicopters, designated CQ-24A, to support their operations in Afghanistan between 2011 and 2014. Lessons learned at Kaman, another Lockheed Martin company now, from the K-MAX's ability to operate semi-autonomously has filtered into the Matrix Technologies project, as well.
thedrive.com