
Artificial intelligence (AI) is disrupting every facet of the aviation industry, and the technology is poised to completely change the way aircraft fly. While pilotless passenger flights on self-flying, AI-powered airliners won’t become a reality anytime soon, AI technology is already creeping into airplane flight decks and transforming how pilots do their jobs—and how they learn to fly.
A handful of companies developing AI-driven flight control systems are already flying autonomous aircraft experimentally, but AI isn’t piloting any aircraft yet. Rather, autonomous airplanes being flown today by companies such as Xwing, Reliable Robotics, and Merlin rely on enhancements to existing autopilot technologies and remote-piloting capabilities. Using Cessna Grand Caravans as testbeds, those companies aim to convert existing legacy aircraft into autonomous aircraft under supplemental type certificates (STCs).