Prior to the World Summit, Airlines are Focusing on the “New Frontier” of AI

Though it may not happen anytime soon, World experts in the aviation industry claim that artificial intelligence is already completely changing the way airlines operate. Head of Data Science and AI at Air France-KLM Julie Pozzi stated, “Data and AI are fantastic levers for the aviation sector,” before the 80th International Air Transport Association (IATA) summit in Dubai.

Attendees at the prestigious annual global airline summit in the United Arab Emirates on Monday will include airline executives who will discuss the latest developments in the sector, including new AI projects.

AI is seen by aviation companies, who have long been accustomed to narrow profit margins, as the newest means of increasing productivity and gaining a competitive edge.

AI is “undoubtedly a new frontier, in that it’s an extraordinary acceleration of technology and capabilities,” according to Geoffrey Weston, lead consultant for the US-based company Bain & Company’s airline division.

“When you have a lot of uncertainty… what AI is really helpful for is to hugely accelerate getting the right information to the right people as quickly as possible,” he explained.

This is being done by Air France-KLM through “more than 40 projects using generative artificial intelligence,” which, like the now-famous ChatGPT, is designed to get better as it is used.

Plans for the French-Dutch company include an 85-language customer response solution that will be put on Air France agents’ tablets and used at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport starting in 2025.

In collaboration with startups, the airport’s operator, Groupe ADP, has also introduced a number of AI projects. One such project is Allobrain, which use voice recognition to answer calls to the airport.

According to Alban Negret, who oversees ADP’s innovation branch, “the number of unanswered phone calls has reduced from 50 percent to 10 percent.”

With the assistance of Wintics, another subcontractor that specializes in data extraction from real-time surveillance photos, the airport operator intends to streamline drop-off zones and shuttle rotations.

Reducing wait times is one of the industry’s major difficulties as air travel develops, according to aerospace expert Jerome Bouchard.

“We are still traveling as we did in the 1970s, but we are packing more and more people into fewer and smaller spaces,” the consultant with Oliver Wyman’s Transportation and Services practice stated.

He continued, “There is room for improvement,” alluding to the possibility of implementing facial recognition technology at airport security.

But all of this calls for a great deal of coordination and data synchronization, which Bouchard claims is still lacking.

According to specialists, modern aircraft, with their advanced self-diagnostic and control systems, are data factories that can be utilized with artificial intelligence.

However, they claim that leaving flight control to algorithms is a no-brainer when it comes to actual piloting.

All things considered, “it is up to humans to take responsibility for decision-making,” as Thales CEO Patrice Caine stated in March.

“Rather than artificial intelligence, I would speak of assisted intelligence, an intelligence that assists humans.”