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.