We have discussed in class the use of Artificial intelligence to drive cars, but we have not discussed the use to fly airplanes. With the advancement of AI in almost every aspect of life transforming rapidly, it only makes sense that we see this trend within airplanes. There have been multiple uses for AI regarding the commercial airline realm, but could we be getting on an airplane with no pilot in the near future? This will take the term “auto-pilot” to a whole new level.
A company named AirBus is the leader in designing, manufacturing, and delivering aerospace products and services worldwide. As a huge company AirBus is spending a lot of funds on their enhancement in AI. They focus on 6 key concepts when it comes to what they would like to obtain from Artificial Intelligence. These 6 key concepts are knowledge extraction, computer vision, Anomaly detection, conversational assistance, decision-making, and finally autonomous flight. They believe these six things are where the future of aerospace exists. With this they state “Computer vision and machine-learning technologies based on AI are critical to enabling self-piloted commercial aircraft to take off and land, and to navigate and detect ground obstacles autonomously.”
This is the beginning to commercial flights being fully autonomous, meanwhile there has already been a fully autonomous flight using AI. In 2021, AI was responsible for flying a F-16 fighter jet for more than 17 hours. The AI was responsible for taking off, maintaining flight, and landing. With improvements on this technology will we be able to see AI fly fighter jets in war? This could dramatically increase deaths among pilots in the army. What would the future of the Airforce and navy look like, when allocating their resources to robot airplanes? These are all relativistic questions we should ask and maybe this is the new plot to Top Gun 3. Below is the picture of the F-16 flown solely by artificial intelligence.
When it comes to airplanes, I do not see a point where someone is not interacting with artificial intelligence in the future. Even when it comes to buying an airplane ticket. Recently Expedia announced a partnership with the AI software ChatGPT to be able to offer a new in app travel experience within the Expedia App. This will allow users to talk to AI about anything regarding their trip or flight.
From when you go to buy your ticket to when you land at your destination, you are interacting with AI. Personally I would want a pilot to be sitting in the cockpit when I take off and land on a plane, but maybe one day I will fly on a pilotless plane and safely get to my destination thanks to the use of AI. Would you be okay with getting on a plane knowing it is 100% flown by a computer? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!
Garrett Goff.
Really interesting post. I kinda figured once they solved self driving cars that they would eventually transition into how AI could be used to fly airplanes. It makes sense that companies like AirBus are investing in it. The idea of a fully autonomous flight is a little scary, but also exciting to think about. I do think it raises some important questions about the future of the military considering we already use remote controlled drones. However in the end I don’t think the military will ever give an AI program decision making responsibilities.
Nice post Garrett. Using AI to fly planes in war is a sad topic but it could become a reality quite soon. Commercial airlines will also begin using AI in the cockpit, and I think pilots’ jobs are safe. There have not been many commercial airline crashes and that indicates that flying is much safer than driving a car. However, if AI could completely eliminate accidents on the ground and in the sky, I am all for it. Good work.
I am actually pretty excited to see commercial drone passenger planes which would be cool. It would probably make the travel industry and flights a little cheaper due to the lack of pilots’ training and salaries along with possible more efficient paths with fully integrated computers controlling all aspects of the plane. Like you said I would like to see a pilot behind the wheel for the future like we have now with autopilot and technology-assisted landings.
Hey Garrett! I have never been in an autonomous car, so flying in an autonomous plane would honestly scare me! I can see how useful it can be in terms of the navy and military, but I’m sure it will take a lot more trial and error for AirBus to fully implement a pilotless plane. To fully answer your question, I believe a human pilot is needed for planes, especially for those that carry hundreds of safety-concerned passengers.
Hey Garrett, great post! I think the idea is interesting, and the technology is certainly ready for it. But, I personally think as long as passengers are on board, airlines will never get regulations cleared to allow for there not to be a pilot on board. As for jets, they don’t hold as much risk besides the cost of the plane and technology.
Great post! The first thing I thought about when reading this was the likelihood of consumers to adopt this technology innovation. Would they be hesitant to try it? If prices to travel decreased because of this, I assume this technology could gain some serious traction among frugal travelers. I wouldn’t prefer fully automated flights but if it were significantly cheaper, I would definitely consider it.
Hello! I never knew that this idea was even being thought of us, so that’s really cool. I don’t think I will ever trust a pilotless plane. Even now, we run into a lot of problems with airplanes I feel like and we should focus on fixing those current issues before we become fully auto-pilot. I am extremely excited to see the advancements in the auto industry in the future though!
Hey! I love how interesting this post is. I also would personally fly in a plane with a pilot, well at least until we 100% trust the pilotless flights, just because although the technology might be there, there for sure is going to be a lot of trial and errors.
Garrett, this was another post that was fun to read. I defiantly can see planes being flown completely by AI however, I would like for there to at least be a pilot on board. Similarly to my opinion on self-driving cars, I think that AI can have control for the most part but there should always be someone there just in case of emergency. Stuff like this also makes me wonder what type of security will there be for technology like this. What if someone hacked into the AI base for the planes?
First, I’m writing this comment from a plane right now on my way to ATL. Second, if I’m not mistaken, a huge portion of the flying now is currently done by autopilot. I think the human pilots only take over at the very beginning and the end for the most part (and I wonder how much of this is actually necessary).
I saw Professor Kanes comment above and actually did a bit more research into the topic. He is absolutely right! I did not realize that much of the flying done today is really autopilot and the pilot really is just there to make sure nothing goes out of whack. Although, I can definitely see a future in where a pilot could virtually fall asleep and the autopilot will be able to operate on its own completely fine!
Wow this is such a great idea. I feel like especially for air force pilots, this could be a great tactic to decrease deaths and be a great strategy method. I don’t know if I would like this for commercial flights, even though the majority of a flight is done with autopilot, I would like there to be someone prepared to take over if something went wrong.