Recent advancements in AI have changed the world over the past year or so. It’s undoubtedly one of the most significant advancements we’ve made over the recent decades, leaving Sundar Pichai to insist that the AI revolution is more significant than the invention of fire. Some may think that’s a little farfetched, but in a way, he is not too far off. The AI boom will have a profound impact on many industries around the world. Some industries will be impacted wholly and others less rapidly.
Simply put, let the computer do the heavy lifting and leave the humans to supervise. Aviation will be affected by AI quite a bit on the non-pilot side of the industry. Data processing, calculations, route, and frequency planning and processes could change significantly due to AI. The industry desperately needs ATC controllers; maybe AI could solve this problem over the next decade. But instead of waiting for the next decade, we could glimpse the future using our regular old home-based simulation. But first, before we do that, we have to find a creative person who’s willing to tackle the problem of Microsoft’s horrendous AI ATC (can we even call I Ai?) The stock sim’s ATC is worse than a group of kids playing Red Light Green Light, but there looks to be hope on the horizon, thanks to SmartSky.ai
We recently discovered their post on Reddit of their very promising Ai ATC controller that’s voice-activated. It currently uses ChatGPT as a framework for listening and providing instruction. The excitement comes from the naturality of Ai’s voice. Unlike MSFS and other ATC add-ons, you aren’t teleported into your grandma’s talking 1984 Chrysler LeBaron. Your DoOR is AJAR. SmartSky.ai leaps ahead with phonetics and phraseology you recognize. SmartSky achieved this by studying ATC communications to match the many voices you would hear flying in real life. This dedication gives the user hundreds of unique voices throughout the software experience. These voices give Smart Sky its uniqueness. You can also respond in regular English with a normal talking speed as you would in real life. Allowing you to respond to ATC requests without using clunky menus or trigger words to acknowledge instructions.
Smart Sky states they are focusing on general aviation VFR, the more difficult phraseology for the AI to master. IFR General Aviation will follow sometime next year. From their Reddit post, “It Assumes you have a level of how ATC works.” There are no pop-up menus to interact with; you speak into your headset as you would in real life. This natural interaction is where this idea shines; I can see this being an excellent training tool for student pilots wanting to touch up their ATC communications offline from VATSIM, etc. So far, it only covers the United States and all major airspace classes B, C, D. Clearance Ground Tower, Departure, Center, Unicom, and more.
According to the team, they’re just about ready for their initial release after ironing out the bugs. To help smash the bugs faster, they’re offering a beta sign-up version allowing early adopters to test the features to help perfect the first release for free.
To sign up for the beta check this link out on their website!
Of course stay tuned to Threshold for more news and updates on SmartSky.Ai!