Air Space Intelligence的首席执行官兼联合创始人Phillip Buckendorf今年早些时候在华盛顿特区的一个经济论坛上发言。
Phillip Buckendorf, the CEO and cofounder of Air Space Intelligence, speaks at an economic forum earlier this year in Washington, D.C.
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images 联邦航空管理局（FAA）正将人工智能作为其雄心勃勃的国家空中交通管制系统改革的一部分，但该技术的推出正值公众对该技术担忧日益加剧之际。
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images The Federal Aviation Administration is betting on artificial intelligence as part of its ambitious overhaul of the nation's air traffic control system, but its rollout comes at a moment of rising public concern about the technology.
为联邦机构构建AI辅助软件的公司负责人强调，人类仍将做出关键的空中交通管制决策。"我想非常清楚地说明这一点，因为这很重要。这不是要实现空中交通管制自动化，"Air Space Intelligence (ASI)联合创始人兼首席执行官Phillip Buckendorf表示。"我们关注的是如何优化整个空域。"
The head of the company building the AI-assisted software for the federal agency emphasized that humans will still be making key air traffic control decisions. "I want to be very clear because this is important. This is not about automating air traffic control," said Phillip Buckendorf, co-founder and CEO of Air Space Intelligence (ASI). "What we're focused on is how do we optimize the airspace in its entirety."
FAA选择了这家总部位于波士顿的公司，以使国家拥挤的空域更加高效。交通部长Sean Duffy上周发布了这款耗资8.75亿美元的软件工具。"让我们使用最好的技术、最好的预测工具，以便人类能做出最好的决策，"Duffy说，"我们只是给他们提供好得多的技术、好得多的前瞻能力。"
The FAA tapped the Boston-based company to make the nation's crowded airspace more efficient. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled the $875-million software tool last week. "Let's use the best technology possible, the best predictors possible, so humans can make the best decisions possible," Duffy said "We're just giving them way better technology, way better foresight."
在一次广泛的采访中，Buckendorf表示，空中交通管制员仍将负责保持飞机间隔。FAA的软件工具是为交通管理人员设计的，他们的任务是管理整个空域，以帮助他们在航线规划和航班调度方面做出更好的决策。"AI进行数学计算，AI进行运算，"Buckendorf说，但最终是否采纳系统的建议取决于人工操作员。"他们做决定，他们是决策者，他们是裁决者。"
In a wide-ranging interview, Buckendorf said air traffic controllers will still be in charge of keeping planes separated. The FAA's software tool is designed for traffic managers, who are tasked with managing the airspace as a whole, to help them make better decisions about flight routing and scheduling. "The AI does the math, the AI does the computation," Buckendorf said, but it's ultimately up to the human operator whether to take the system's recommendation. "They make the decision, they are the decider, they are the judge."
Buckendorf将这一过程比作一场国际象棋比赛，该工具可以帮助交通管理人员预见未来四到五步的走势。
Buckendorf compared the process to a game of chess, where the tool can help traffic managers see four or five moves into the future.
巴肯多夫表示：“我们正在研究 200 多个数据源，包括天气、交通拥堵、气流、风向、跑道关闭情况等，以确定全国每一架航班的最佳飞行路径。这样可以确保空中交通顺畅，航班准时到达，减少延误和取消，最终带来更好的旅行体验。”该系统被称为“空域、航线和轨迹战略管理系统”，简称 SMART。它类似于 ASI 为航空公司调度员开发的另一款软件工具 Flyways AI，该工具目前已在阿拉斯加航空及其他航空公司投入使用。但 SMART 系统所涉及的利害关系无疑更为重大。
"We're looking at over 200 data sources from weather, congestion, turbulence, winds, runway closures, to figure out what is the most optimal flight path for every flight across the country," Buckendorf said. "So that traffic is flowing, flights arrive on time, delays are reduced, cancellations are reduced, which is ultimately what makes a better travel experience." The system is known as Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories, or SMART for short. It's similar to another software tool known as Flyways AI that ASI built for airline flight dispatchers, which is already in use at Alaska Airlines and other carriers. But the stakes with the SMART system are undeniably higher.
该系统的推广将首先在华盛顿特区周边的三个主要机场进行试点。此举引发了众议员唐·拜尔（弗吉尼亚州民主党籍）的抱怨，他的选区位于北弗吉尼亚州，其中包括罗纳德·里根华盛顿国家机场。
The rollout will begin with a pilot project at three major airports in the Washington, D.C., area. That prompted complaints from Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), whose Northern Virginia district includes Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
拜尔在一份声明中表示：“美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）不应将我的选民当作未经证实的 AI 空中交通管制系统的试验品。草率地推进一个关乎美国人性命的系统，绝非人工智能的合理应用场景。”巴肯多夫承认，人们对人工智能和空中交通管制的担忧是真实存在的。但他鼓励批评者更深入地了解该软件的工作原理。
"The FAA should not use my constituents as guinea pigs for an unproven AI air traffic control system," Beyer said in a statement "Dangerously rushing a system that holds Americans' lives in its hands is not a good use case for artificial intelligence." Buckendorf acknowledged that fears about AI and air traffic control are real. But he encouraged critics to take a closer look at how the software works. "Come and see it.
他说：“来看看吧，了解一下这项技术。我认为很多怀疑源于不了解。”
Look at the technology. I think a lot of the skepticism comes from actually not knowing," he said.
巴肯多夫说：“我完全理解人们对于‘这是用于空中交通管制的人工智能’感到恐惧。但事实并非如此。机器从不做决定，决策者始终是人类操作员，即空中交通管理员。我们希望他们拥有最好的技术，而不是让他们继续使用 20 世纪 80 年代的软件。谁会反对这一点呢？”但怀疑论者质疑，对于一个已经不堪重负的空中交通管制系统来说，这款新软件究竟能带来多大改观，尤其是在最拥堵的机场和主要枢纽。
"I totally understand that there is fear about, like, 'this is AI for air traffic control.' But it's not," Buckendorf said. "The machine never makes a decision. It's a human operator, the air traffic manager. And we want them to have the very best technology. We don't want them to run on 1980s software.
前美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）空中交通管制员戴夫·莱利（Dave Riley）称SMART系统是“朝着正确方向迈出的一步”。但他提醒说，这并不是解决空中交通系统所面临更大问题的“万灵药”，这些问题包括长期的人员短缺，导致许多管制员被迫加班并承受繁重的工作时间表。莱利认为，FAA夸大了这款软件工具对航空公众的影响。
Who can disagree with that?" But skeptics wonder how much of a difference the new software will make for an air traffic control system that's stretched to its limits, particularly at the most congested airports and major hubs. Former FAA air traffic controller Dave Riley called the SMART system "a step in the right direction." Though he cautions that it's not a "cure all" for the bigger problems facing the air traffic system, including a longstanding staffing shortage that forces many controllers to work mandatory overtime and grueling schedules. Riley thinks the FAA is overstating the impact this software tool will have on the flying public.
“给它贴上‘人工智能’这个流行词，就能吸引所有人的注意，”莱利说，“我看到的就是这样。”尽管如此，ASI首席执行官巴肯多夫（Buckendorf）认为，空中交通管理人员理应获得最好的工具来做出关键决策。他指出，他们手机上的地图应用程序往往比他们在工作中使用的软件具有更先进的预测功能。
"Throw the buzzword 'AI' on it and get everybody's attention," Riley said. "That's what I see." Still, ASI CEO Buckendorf argues that air traffic managers deserve the best possible tools to make crucial decisions. He noted that the mapping apps on their phones often have more sophisticated predictive capabilities than the software they've been using at work.
“我认为那不是我们想要生活的世界，”巴肯多夫说，“你必须确保那些专家，那些训练有素、在值班时做出极其关键操作的操作员，能够拥有世界一流的软件。”航空空中交通管制
"I don't think that's the world that we want to live in," Buckendorf said. "You want to make sure that those specialists, those very, very well-trained operators that make really critical operations when they're on shift, that they have world-class software." aviation air traffic control