What is an innovative application for Artificial Intelligence scientists and companies should be pursuing? Why is this application valuable either in terms of potential profits or benefits to society?
Self-driving cars such as Google driverless car, among others, have become a reality. As many as 4 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. have passed legislation to allow driverless cars on the streets.
Unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, have been in operation for many years without any human pilot. However, there is still some elements of human control in current designs.
The next step for such successful application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be self-flying civilian airliners. Analysis of recent airplane crashes reveals that many crashes causing senseless loss of many lives could have been prevented if there had been no human beings involved. Here are some examples.
2015-03-24: Germanwings A320-200; D-AIPX; flight 4U9525; near Barcelonnette, France: The first officer deliberately crashed the aircraft, killing all six crew members and 144 passengers.
2014-03-08: Malaysia Airlines 777-200; 9M-MRO; flight MH370; unknown location: The current status and location of the aircraft, along with that of the 227 passengers and 12 crew members who were on board, is unknown.
Hundreds of lives could have been saved had there been an AI-based flight control method and system via satellite tracking instead of human pilots and human air traffic controllers.
Therefore, Self-Flying Civilian Airliners is the next innovative application that Artificial Intelligence scientists and companies should be pursuing because of great potential benefits to society.
