Alex:
What you’re suggesting is this: using AI to come up with better software (in controlled, ground-bound circumstances) could be useful. Yes, in the software development environment, it could. But releasing any AI into the wild would be a fatal mistake, because each instance of the software quickly would become unique, thus rendering its behavior unpredictable, and thus unreliable. In order for this stuff to work reliably, EVERY airborne instance of the software must be identical.
You opined: “…there’s still a need to have individualized AI to allow the aircraft to learn how to operate in a degraded state and get on the ground safely.” Absolutely NOT. Operating safely under ALL conditions is a requirement of the software, not some uncompleted task whose solution is to be “discovered” by each instance, ad hoc.
And what do you mean, “For once…” 