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Asked by kp on 10 Jan 2024.
Question: Could AI be used to completely fly aircrafts with no pilots needed
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Carl Peter Robinson answered on 10 Jan 2024:
Ugh, that’s a very interesting question, but for some reason, thinking about it is slightly disconcerting! It shouldn’t be though. I think the actual flying part should be easier for an AI than when you think about AIs in self-driving cars, as there ought to be fewer variables to consider (e.g., self-driving cars have to take account of, and interact with, all the other humans inhabiting that world). We already have good auto-pilot systems in planes, which aid human pilots with the long-haul task of flying great distances. But you also have to consider the technicalities of landing and taking off, and the large number of variables to be considered here for an AI, which then makes it a much more complex task. AlphaDogfight (https://www.jhuapl.edu/work/projects/alphadogfight-trials) has proven that an AI is more capable than a human in a fighter pilot scenario, albeit in a limited scenario, so I feel that AI-piloted aircraft are certainly on the way. Whether a human-in-the-loop will be mandatory (always a worthy consideration in my opinion), is something that should also be on that agenda.
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Luke Humphrey answered on 11 Jan 2024:
Yes, Carl’s answer sums it up for me. Minimising risk sometimes means choosing the option that intuitively feels riskier but has proven to be safer. Same thing with people feeling more scared of planes than cars, even though cars are much more dangerous. At the end of the day, the least risky option will likely be some combination of AI and people both in appropriate roles.
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Rosemary J Thomas answered on 11 Jan 2024:
AI can also be used to fly aircrafts without pilots, but it is not very common yet.
Some people are working on making AI systems that can control airplanes by themselves, without any human help. They use cameras, sensors, and computers to see the runway, talk to the air traffic control, and adjust the speed and direction of the plane. They also use a lot of data and rules to make sure the plane is safe and follows the laws of flying. These have some advantages, like saving money, reducing human errors, and doing dangerous or boring tasks.
Some people may not feel comfortable flying on a plane with no human pilot, or may worry about the ethical and social issues of using AI in aviation. Maybe in the future, we will see more AI systems flying in the sky, but for now, most planes still need human pilots to fly them.
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Edward commented on :
They can at the moment. For modern passenger aircraft such as the Airbus A380, it can take off, cruise and land. Most aircraft have autopilots and there are a lot of aids for pilots to make it easier. However, some pilots are concerned as if they depend too much on these automated systems, they might lose some of their flying skills.
Also, the public would not want to fly on an aircraft with no pilot at the moment. I’m sure it would be great on routine flights but if you have any aircraft issues/faults, the decision making abilities of the flight crew are very valuable. You can see some of this if you watch Air Crash Investigation on the National Geographic channel.
Andrew commented on :
AI can already do a lot of the stuff involved with flying an aircraft (and much of this is surprisingly simple for machines — much easier than driving a car). But I doubt passengers would feel happy without a human pilot — especially as machines are still not good at improvising in unexpected situations