Went for Phalanx article immediately too when I saw the link, I guess there is just something about that 20mm beast throwing massive tungsten slugs at even crazier speeds that no missile can compete with (for attracting readers).

These things require super quick reactions, operator is optional (and thats why no real usage in combat, USN ends up turning it off often in situations where they don't want to risk absolutely destructive friendly fire.

Now if everything will be eventually 'ai'-infused, well, fuck. Navy apparently doesn't trust automation with their lives much, and fancier neural network with unpredictable decision paths ain't gonna improve things.