“If you could have any dream air vehicle, what would it be?” asked David. “Including something that’s not available?” replied Sara. “Yes.”
“OK, it would be a two-place vertical takeoff and landing vehicle I could have right here in my driveway. Not a car, mind you, but a VTOL. With 100% automatic flight. I’d get in it, enter my destination and then sit back and read the newspaper. Or watch the scenery. How about you?” replied Sara.
“That doesn’t sound fun at all. I’d find a Piper Cub and fly it on warm sunny days. Total bliss. No artificial intelligence or computers needed except my own feeble brain.”
The ChatGPT idea is all wrong. We don’t need help writing term papers. We need help flying. Or no help flying. I do think that it is one or the other. Right now, driving automation is not fully operational, despite what Tesla owners tell you. Partially functional driving computers are meant to be monitored by a human. But humans are not good at partial attention. Nor are humans good at multitasking. The more we try to multitask, the less we are able to accomplish. Until AI can really protect humans from themselves, we’re going to have a “one foot in and one foot out” dilemma.
I am not casting aspersions upon “smart tech” or the handy apps for preflights or on the wonderful Garmin emergency landing software. What I am worried about is humans who stop actively driving or flying, thinking that the tech will do everything.
We’re not there yet.
The closer we get to full automation, the more dangerous it will be. Carmakers are very specific about the driving software. We’re instructed to be attentive at all times, ready to take control and to keep our hands on the wheel. The trouble with this instruction is that it ignores human nature. We can’t do things halfway—it’s full attention or no attention.
A true computerized cockpit will behave as if you are not on board. When we get to that point, then we can pull out the newspaper or the pillow. This technology for our small homebuilts is quite a way off, in my opinion. But as it gets better and better, we will get less and less attentive. That’s a problem. Many of us rely on GPS navigators in our cars, and we have stories about the unit leading us to a recycling dump when we were looking for a pizza.
What to do? Recognize that our quirky human tendency is to pay attention or not pay attention. Think about what things you really do need to pay attention to in all phases of flight, and decide to give them your full attention. Both car and aircraft accidents are still mostly our own fault, rather than being mechanical. And most of these are errors of judgment.
So, understand the current limits of automation and use what we have, knowing that we still need to pay attention to the things that require judgment and situational awareness. Unless, of course, you are in your non-tech-adorned Cub flying, actually flying, and letting the passion and joy of that experience fill your total awareness.
