AVIATION VOICES

Editorial Comment By Rick Adams, FRAeS

When the hype about AI-generated text began to amp up recently, I was naturally curious. After all, predictions are that AI is going to replace humans in numerous jobs, including journalists.

I had to experiment to find out for myself. So I asked ChatGPT, the most-hyped platform, some questions related to flight training and virtual reality. The response was okay, if you’re looking for a high-level generic essay that reads like it was composed by a middle school student plagiarising Wikipedia. Where the chatbot completely failed was in identifying the first regulatory-approved VR-based simulator, a story I broke about two years ago (Born in Switzerland: Regulator-Qualified VR Flight Training | 2021-04-26 | Halldale Group).

A colleague had a similar experience, comparing ChatGPT’s response with what we had written about the recent FAA Aviation Safety Summit, which was both widely reported on by aviation writers and posted on YouTube. My colleague received an ‘apology’ from the chatbot, saying it couldn’t comment on ‘future events.’

By Mike Cavaliere, Director of News & Media Relations, ERAU

Reprinted by permission of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

High noise levels during flight have long been a barrier to the advancement of urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles, or “air taxis.” Thanks to new research being conducted at Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University and backed by a recently awarded $1.4 million NASA grant, however, low-noise multirotor aircraft are becoming a reality — one that could precipitate a boom of autonomous flight options available in a city near you.

“By some estimates, UAM operations may become a reality in some urban areas by 2024-2025, first piloted then gradually shifting to autonomous operations controlled from the ground,” said Dr. Vladimir Golubev, Embry‑Riddle professor of Aerospace Engineering and a principal investigator on the project.

ChatGPT is My Co-Pilot ?

Embry-Riddle Researchers Use NASA Grant to Study UAM Noise