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Archer Aviation is considering creating an AI flight manual for its air taxis, its CEO told Business Insider.
“We look at using AI and LLMs [large language models] to help simplify things,” Adam Goldstein said in an interview at the Paris Air Show this week.
“So, we can look at anything from a flight manual — which may be quite complex, that you can query and ask questions — to internal tools to help us move faster.
“You can imagine if you’re in some type of scenario and there’s a big flight manual, and you need to understand what to do very quickly, you don’t want to be thumbing through some multi-hundred-page book,” he added. “You want to ask a quick question, get your answer, and fix your problem.”
Pilots have manuals called quick-reference handbooks that outline procedures for emergencies or other situations where the aircraft signals a warning message. The handbooks are typically on a digital device that are easier to search.
AI could make searching faster, but large-language models such as ChatGPT have faced criticism for sometimes generating incorrect information, known as hallucinations.
Silicon Valley-based Archer has partnered with Palantir for work with AI, saying they would develop software to improve a range of systems, including air traffic control, movement control, and route planning.
“There’s big complicated systems that need near 100% reliability, if not 100% reliability, and that’s why we partnered with Palantir,” Goldstein told BI.
He said he used ChatGPT daily: “I think it’s a great way to do research and to view the world, and I only expect that to continue.”
Archer is one of the premier players in advanced air mobility, which is regarded as the next generation of aircraft.
Its aircraft, Midnight, is electric and can take off and land vertically — called an eVTOL for short, or a “flying taxi.”
The goal is to transform commutes in cities. For example, Archer says it would take 9 minutes to travel between Newark Liberty International Airport and downtown Manhattan, instead of the roughly hourlong journeys by car or public transit.
United Airlines has placed an order worth up to $1.5 billion, and Archer last month announced it was chosen as the official air taxi partner of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Also in Paris on Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced an alliance to streamline the certification of eVTOLs, including the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Archer plans to deploy its first Midnight aircraft in the United Arab Emirates later this year.
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