FAA expands SMART AI tool nationwide ahead of system outage scrutiny
The Federal Aviation Administration has expanded its SMART artificial intelligence tool nationwide to help air traffic controllers manage congestion, days before a nationwide ground stop.
The Federal Aviation Administration has expanded the deployment of SMART, an artificial intelligence system designed to advise air traffic controllers on managing congestion and rerouting flights, across the entire national airspace system, according to reporting by Ars Technica and Mashable. The system consolidates 200 data streams into a single platform, applying AI to suggest flight routes and schedules.[1][2][3][4]
The nationwide launch followed an initial trial around Washington and saw the tool turned on across all 22 en route control centers in the country. However, the rollout occurred just three days before a nationwide ground stop during which control centers went dark.[2][5]
The implementation had already faced resistance prior to the outages. The air traffic controllers' union stated in September that it had no involvement in designing or testing SMART, and Democrats asked the FAA in October to pause the rollout. While no official link has been demonstrated between the new software and the system failure, Homeland Security's Markwayne Mullin responded when asked if AI could be behind the grounding: "You just can't rule out anything at this point."[2]
Key facts
- The FAA expanded SMART, an AI tool designed to manage congestion and suggest flight routes and schedules, across the entire US national airspace system.
- SMART pools 200 individual data streams into one centralized platform.
- The AI tool was rolled out to all 22 en route control centers nationwide following an earlier trial around Washington.
- The nationwide rollout took place three days before a national air traffic ground stop.
- The air traffic controllers' union said in September that it had no role in designing or testing SMART.
- Congressional Democrats urged the FAA in October to pause the rollout of the SMART system.
- Homeland Security's Markwayne Mullin stated, "You just can't rule out anything at this point," when asked whether AI played a role in the grounding.
Sources · 5 sources
- TE
Techmeme@TechmemePost on X ·
The FAA announced on Thursday that it has expanded the use of SMART, an AI tool for advising air traffic controllers to manage congestion, across the US (@jeremyhsu / Ars Technica) (Visit Techmeme dot com for the link and full context!)
Open source - MN
Mario Nawfal@MarioNawfalPost on X ·
🚨🇺🇸 The FAA switched on its new AI system, SMART, at every control center in the country this week... days later, all of them went dark Nobody has shown the two are connected, so start there. But the timeline is hard to ignore. The system pulls 200 data streams into one platform and uses AI to suggest routes and schedules. The FAA said this week it was live nationwide after a trial around Washington. The controllers' union said in September it had no part in designing or testing it, and Democrats asked the FAA in October to pause the rollout. Homeland Security's Markwayne Mullin was asked today if AI could be behind the grounding: "You just can't rule out anything at this point." If you put one new platform in every control center at once and every control center fails the same week, wouldn't that be the first place you'd look? It may turn out to be a coincidence, but it's on the FAA to prove that now. Source: NBC / Writer: Daniel
Open source - TE
TechmemeArticle ·
The FAA announced on November 10 that it has expanded the use of SMART, an AI tool for advising air traffic controllers to manage congestion, across the US (Jeremy Hsu/Ars Technica) Jeremy Hsu / Ars Technica : The FAA announced on November 10 that it has expanded the use of SMART, an AI tool for advising air traffic controllers to manage congestion, across the US — The US government has expanded the use of an AI tool for advising air traffic controllers to assist in managing air traffic across the entire national airspace system.
Open source - MA
Mashable@mashablePost on X ·
The FAA's SMART AI is designed to help reroute flights. https://t.co/zrkFRzimdr
Open source - PO
Polymarket@PolymarketPost on X ·
BREAKING: It’s been revealed that the FAA rolled out an AI air traffic tool to all 22 en route control centers 3 days before the nationwide ground stop.
Open source