Will ATC ever be automated?

[Quickstatus]

ATC is likely to be the profession least likely to be automated.
Comments?

 

[Hvr]

Not successfully or safely.

 

[moa999]

Wouldn't be the bottom of my list.

Highly manual things like construction trades, animal butchery etc would be well ahead.

Indeed I suspect an ATC controller from 50yrs ago would struggle to walk into the job today given the amount of technology used, compare that to a butcher or carpenter.

 

[SydneySwan]

This is a question for DT. He is an expert in this area.

 

[Forg]

I reckon yes, but it will be a VERY long time … technology seems to be very conservative in the aircraft/flight industry, and I kinda think I want it that way!

 

[harvyk]

Parts yes, but never fully (at least not anywhere in the near future).

AI is both very smart and very dumb at the same time, and in the ATC world it's not just a case of mis-counting the number of r's in strawberry, or adding 8 fingers to a hand, it is lives on the line.

Computers are really good at pattern matching even across very large amounts of data (that's effectively all AI is), but it's not so good when it comes to thinking when an unusual situation occurs.

The most likely scenario I see is one that computers / AI allows human controllers to control much larger areas, thus reducing the required headcount. Automating some of the routine tasks.

So yes, I do see a future where AI augments human controllers to make their jobs easier, but I see humans in the mix for a long time yet.

 

[jb747]

It will happen, in the same time frame that all the passengers are also replaced by AI.

 

[elanshin]

ATC is likely to be the profession least likely to be automated.
Comments?

I believe the technology to allow for this will happen. But the human aspect of it will not.

Basically, having computers be able to map in real time routes, plane positions and instructions should be technologically possible at some point. But the psychological human aspects (like self driving cars for example) and trusting it will take a long time to develop.

What is more likely to happen is augmentation. Think of it like autopilot where if everything is cruisy and nothing strange is happening, there's some levels of automation to help ATC process the information and even instructions - especially if we're having ATC staff crunch.

Although never say never. Automatic lifts were considered an impossibility at some stage of time, but no-one would even consider it now getting into a lift.