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Even a semi-automated system could lighten the load and in the near future an automated system could handle most of the work and only human involvement on a limited basis. Soon AI systems will outperform and be far safer than having humans involved.
Even a semi-automated system could lighten the load and in the near future an automated system could handle most of the work and only human involvement on a limited basis. Soon AI systems will outperform and be far safer than having humans involved.
The air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer. CNN is showcasing the work of The Conversation, a collaboration between journalists and academics to provide news analysis and commentary. The content is produced solely by The Conversation.
CNN —
After hours of routine operations, an air traffic controller gets a radio call from a small aircraft whose cockpit indicators can’t confirm that the plane’s landing gear is extended for landing. The controller arranges for the pilot to fly low by the tower so the controller can visually check the plane’s landing gear. All appears well. “It looks like your gear is down,” the controller tells the pilot.
The controller calls for the airport fire trucks to be ready just in case, and the aircraft circles back to land safely. Scenarios like this play out regularly. In the air traffic control system, everything must meet the highest levels of safety, but not everything goes according to plan.
Contrast this with the still science-fiction vision of future artificial intelligence “pilots” flying autonomous aircraft, complete with an autonomous air traffic control system handling aircraft as easily as routers shuttling data packets on the internet.
I’m an aerospace engineer who led a National Academies study ordered by Congress about air traffic controller staffing. Researchers are continually working on new technologies that automate elements of the air traffic control system, but technology can execute only those functions that are planned for during its design and so can’t modify standard procedures. As the scenario above illustrates, humans are likely to remain a necessary central component of air traffic control for a long time to come.
Won't the legal eagles be all over this? Or maybe not until the first air accident using AI. In the same way, full self driving is not ready for full customer availability yet.
Today's ai might be good enough for sales and marketing or hr. If it hallucinates in those areas, can we really tell? But mission critical roles, I'm still very skeptical.
How about automating a few functions at a time as they prove themselves out? If we could lessen the load a little at a time this could lighten the load. Take off the easy parts first.
How about automating a few functions at a time as they prove themselves out? If we could lessen the load a little at a time this could lighten the load. Take off the easy parts first.
Hopefully this is already happening. That is how it is generally done with AI. As a pilot myself this is critical to our safety. I watch a Youtube channel called Pilot Debrief. A former military and current commercial pilot goes through the FAA reports and does a root cause analysis on air accidents. 99.99% of the time it is pilot error. Very rarely is it air traffic controller error but sometimes the controller could have done more. Hopefully with AI air traffic controllers can do more to save lives.
My name is "Hoover". I served 20 years in the Air Force where I flew the F-15E "Strike Eagle". I also participated in an exchange program with the USMC where I flew the F/A-18D for three years. After retiring from the military, I spent a short time flying the CE-560XL for a Part 135 operator...
