How Will Self-Flying Aircraft Make Ethical Choices?

Experts weigh in on how electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis will fly autonomously and how aircraft controlled by artificial intelligence/machine learning systems might respond during life-and-death situations.

Thom Patterson

Monday, February 28, 2022 at 05:02 PM ET

Verified

Perhaps as soon as 2035, aircraft piloted by artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) systems will have to perform aeronautical decision-making functions—and make ethical choices previously reserved only for humans. [Courtesy: EASA]

Key Takeaways:

The push for autonomous eVTOL air taxis requires programming AI to navigate complex ethical dilemmas, such as "trolley problems," where machines must make life-or-death decisions.
While current AI excels at rule-based tasks, achieving true autonomy in aviation demands systems capable of creative problem-solving and learning from unanticipated events, which remains a significant challenge.
Aviation regulators (EASA, FAA) and companies are developing ethical guidelines, certification roadmaps, and deterministic systems, often with human oversight, to ensure the safety and trustworthiness of future autonomous air transport.
Engineers believe autonomous flight presents a more manageable challenge than self-driving cars due to the less chaotic and more controlled environment of the airspace.

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It’s no secret that many companies developing electric, vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis eventually plan to fly their fleets autonomously—with no pilot on board to guide aeronautical decision making (ADM). Eventually, experts believe the machines that will pilot these aircraft will be capable of learning and making difficult ethical choices previously reserved only for humans.

For example, let’s imagine the year is 2040. You’re a passenger in a small, autonomous, battery-powered air taxi with no pilot flying about 3,000 feet over Los Angeles at 125 mph. Air traffic is crowded with hundreds of other small, electric aircraft, flying and electronically coordinating with each other, allowing very little separation. Suddenly, an alarm goes off, warning about another passenger aircraft on a collision course. But amid heavy traffic, there are no safe options to change course and avoid the oncoming aircraft. In this scenario, how would a machine pilot know what action to take next?