HAITICS

For decades, aircraft have been one of the safest means of transportation, which is due to the high standards in the development, testing, operation, maintenance and inspection of aircraft as well as the comprehensive training of pilots.

The operation of aircraft, especially with passengers, presents highly complex, safety-critical situations and therefore places considerable psychological demands on pilots. For this reason, pilots are usually supported by a co-pilot who can take over control in potentially critical situations.

As technology advances, AI systems could enable single-pilot operations, where one pilot controls all flight operations. The system could serve as a digital co-pilot - provided that a safe and reliable interaction between AI and humans can be established.

A crucial prerequisite for such cooperation is that the system provides information in a way that the human pilot can easily understand and interpret in order to act appropriately, for example by taking control. Similarly, the system must be able to correctly understand and interpret human actions in order to deduce when it needs to act and provide support in critical situations or take over control completely. To meet this challenge, we provide insights into ongoing research into the requirements for safe operation when humans and AI work together in a cockpit. By conducting controlled behavioral experiments in a flight simulator, we evaluate the impact of information exchange on safety.

Our findings can highlight strategies for facilitating collaboration between AI and humans, while also providing critical food for thought on the challenges that arise.