Unless there's a new feature the story isn't letting on, they're not excessively robotic, either - more like an R/C F-16 where the pilot controls are replaced by a remote actuation system.
Since the F-16 was purely fly-by-wire and computer stabilized anyway, the difference is where the commands are coming from - there's no additional algorithmic "magic" or computer-controlled decisionmaking power.
Of course! But I'd say more like "was" - remote-controlled fighter planes have been around since at least the Airspeed Queen Wasp in the '30s (!!!), and those were arguably more complex to control remotely as the control systems weren't already directly run by computers. Plus the F-16 actually becomes more stable as its speed increases - at below-mach speeds, it's dynamically unstable and the aerodynamics are patched in by computer, but at mach speeds it becomes dynamically stable and will trend towards straight and level.
(Amusing fact-of-the-day - the fastest RC models in the world do not have motors. Specially built gliders flown in big winds on just the right shape hills can go a couple of hundred mph faster than even jet powered RC planes…)
Since the F-16 was purely fly-by-wire and computer stabilized anyway, the difference is where the commands are coming from - there's no additional algorithmic "magic" or computer-controlled decisionmaking power.