Software developer Predictive Dynamics has created an AI flight instructor that allows student pilots to use their home flight simulators in a more realistic way to practice maneuvers and procedures. The company goes as far as saying its Fly With AI Pro will “transform your simulator into a flight school.” It also says it’s “like a really excellent flight instructor sliding a chair up to your simulator.” According to flight simulator publication fselite.net, the software uses a system named Bernoulli to monitor and even predict the actions taken by the student in the full gamut of practice maneuvers included in the private pilot syllabus.
It’s also fully interactive and the student can ask questions while he or she is flying the sim. “So for example, you could ask it while you’re in a turn if you should be applying more or less rudder, and in which direction—and it will respond accordingly based on what it can see from your aircraft’s current attitude and situation,” the publication said in its review. The video below shows how that works.
After completing all the lessons, the student can advance to testing and evaluation. Throughout the training there’s the option to talk with a human flight instructor via Zoom to iron out any difficulties. The system keeps scrupulous records of all the training sessions, noting successes, failures and remedial measures. The student can allow the instructor access to any of the records relevant to the area in which he or she is having trouble. The company is offering the software for a flat fee until the student has passed his or her checkride.
Really excellent human flight instructors in real airplanes during primary training as well as those sitting in their simulator chairs during professional initial and recurrent simulator training worked well for me. Private enterprise inevitably will attempt to substitute AI and robotics for human beings. So much for supply side trickle down economics. And while AI and robotics will find their place as tools to be used by human beings, a much as the corporate world would like it to be, they will never completely substitute for the human dynamic by which generations of us have been successfully trained.
Could we not have AI flight instructors train AI pilots? Why waste time and resources to train humans?
Emotions aside, does the student show proper learning behavior when using the AI tool? If the answer is yes then why not use it? The question really is that simple.
This is a great idea! Let’s have a simulated instructor teach a real student in a simulated aircraft. Then the student can get an FAA certificate limited to flying simulated aircraft.
Unfortunately, effective pedagogy with real aircraft in real airspace in real weather comes from (lots of) experience in the real environment.
Experience and all that jazz is just overrated.
We need cheap pulsing robots to fly planes, not starry eyed aviators with a desire for income/ retirement or QOL.
Get on board already, will you?!
No doubt that day will come, but with any luck I won’t be flying commercially. I spent my entire career automating/computerizing business processes. All we ended up doing was swapping one form of error (human) for a more insidious, and harder to detect, kind.
I have no autopilot in my airplane or helicopter. If/when I reach the point of needing one, I’ll hire a pilot named “George” to go with me.
There’s a lot to like about flight sims, especially with AI enhancements like Fly With AI Pro in the mix. They give structure, real-time feedback, and endless do-overs that help students lock in flows, checklists, and muscle memory before they ever touch the throttle. But no matter how slick the graphics or how smart the AI, it still can’t teach you what real flying feels like. There’s no substitute for actual flying. You’ve gotta feel those Gs, the bumps, and the butterflies.