Would you take a flight controlled by an AI pilot?

Not long ago, I attended the "European Aerospace Technology Week 2023" conference in Munich, Germany, and listened to many keynote speeches and discussions on the challenges, regulations and technology trends in the avionics industry. In particular, one of the topics that was mentioned many times was the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in aerospace systems, both ground systems and avionics systems. Every step taken by the aerospace industry on the road to the application of artificial intelligence is very cautious, and I often think about this question-would I be willing to take a flight controlled by an AI pilot instead of a human pilot?

Although many of us are unlikely to face such a decision in the short term, in the medium and long term, this day seems to be coming. Moreover, it is a question that should be seriously considered - because both Canada and Japan have submitted reports at a meeting of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) in 2022 to apply remotely piloted air systems (RPAS) to perform cargo flights.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and normal retirements, the aviation industry has seen a significant reduction in the number of experienced pilots, the workforce is rapidly aging, and the hiring and training of new pilots is not progressing fast enough to meet the needs of the aviation industry.

ICAO has set many regulations for commercial flights, including requiring multiple pilots to participate in flight operations. However, some airlines are now starting to arrange only one pilot to perform flight missions instead of two pilots as is the industry practice. Many countries have called for changes to the relevant regulations.

The aerospace industry and regulators are discussing how to achieve Single Pilot Operations (SPO). Related operations may begin as early as 2027 to alleviate the pilot shortage. However, during the flight, can the human pilot take a temporary break and hand over the work of flying the plane to the AI ​​pilot? Or, would you be willing to let another pilot who is not in the plane fly the flight you are on by remote control?

For most people, this question does not need to be answered immediately. At present, the AI ​​systems developed by the aviation industry are mainly used for massive flight data analysis, with the goal of obtaining in-depth information to help human pilots make better decisions while reducing their workload. There are also many AI applications in aircraft collision avoidance warning systems, which were also the focus of discussion at the Aviation Technology Week.

The European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE) and SAE International are collaborating through the joint working group EUROCAE WG-114/SAE G34 to establish common standards and guidelines to support the development and certification of AI safety-related systems. It seems that with the existing avionics safety certification standards, including ARP-4754A, ARP-4761, DO-178C DO-2 and 54, almost all of them are not applicable to AI systems. However, can AI systems be applied under the control of traditional software and hardware safety certification? Or, is it still necessary for human pilots to confirm the AI ​​analysis system before taking action?

The latest generation of manned aircraft are already equipped with automatic flight systems that can automatically take off and land, and can be used to pick up passengers instead of taxis. In the next few years, we can expect the aerospace industry to make great progress in developing AI-based advisory systems and AI co-pilots to reduce the workload of human pilots and provide a large amount of empirical data for AI-based automatic traffic systems. Such systems may be deployed first in urban air mobility (UAM) systems.

So, one day in the future, when you hear that the flight you are on is being flown by an artificial intelligence pilot, I hope you won’t panic!