FAA turns to AI to reform air traffic control
UC engineering professor discusses risks, benefits of proposal
WKRC Local 12 turned to an aerospace engineering professor at the University of Cincinnati to explain the risks and benefits of a proposal by the Federal Aviation Administration to use artificial intelligence to revamp air traffic control in the United States.
Contractor Air Space Intelligence is selling the federal agency software to help traffic managers organize flight routes and schedules. But air traffic controllers would continue to be responsible for real-time decisions, the company said.
UC Professor Kelly Cohen talks to Local 12 about AI for air traffic control. Photo/Local 12
The system is in place at airports in Alaska. The company plans to expand it to airports in the Mid-Atlantic: Washington Dulles International Airport, Ronald Reagan International Airport and Baltimore-Washington International.
UC College of Engineering and Applied Science Professor Kelly Cohen directs UC's AI Bio Lab, where he and his students have been working on AI in aviation that is trustworthy and safe. His lab is working with defense firm Thales to test the reliability of AI.
“What we are pushing together, my lab and the team, is certifiable,“ Cohen told Local 12.
“AI is having to get to these guarantees that it would be able to perform in a very safe manner. As Ronald Reagan said, trust but verify. So to be able to trust the AI, we need to make sure that the verification process of every part of it is very thorough.“
Featured image at top: UC Professor Kelly Cohen, the Brian H. Rowe endowed chair of the Department of Aerospace Engineering, spoke to Local 12 about the future of AI in air traffic control at airports such as Ronald Reagan International, pictured. Photo/Greggory DiSalvo/iStockPhoto
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