United Airlines has started using artificial intelligence on its flights

United Airlines aims to enhance its passengers' pre-flight and post-flight experiences by activating an artificial intelligence customer service chatbot. Jason Birnbaum, who served as United's CIO in 2022, manages a team of over 1,500 employees and approximately 2,000 contractors responsible for all the technology enabling this initiative. Birnbaum stated, "I believe there are many different areas in the travel industry where artificial intelligence can be used for both customers and employees."

Transitioning to artificial intelligence applications is one of the significant innovation areas for airline companies. United Airlines, an American airline company, has started using productive artificial intelligence to enhance passengers' travel experiences.

How does United Airlines use artificial intelligence to facilitate flying?

When you board a United Airlines flight, a chatroom is activated to coordinate many tasks that you, as a passenger, would never notice, involving gate agents, flight attendants, and others ensuring your aircraft departs on time.

In case of a flight delay, you will receive a text message with an explanation via the United app. This message is generated by artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, dispatchers in offices around the world review this real-time data to ensure the crew can legally fly the aircraft without violating FAA regulations.

Jason Birnbaum, who served as United's CIO in 2022, manages a team of over 1,500 employees and approximately 2,000 contractors responsible for all the technology enabling this initiative.

Before joining United, Birnbaum spent 16 years at GE, rising from technology leadership roles to become the CIO of GE Consumer and Industrial based in Budapest. In 2009, he became President of GE Healthcare Global Supply Chain. In 2015, he joined United as Senior Vice President of Digital Technology, where he was responsible for the airline's first artificial intelligence and machine learning-based services and the digitalization of all flight operations.

United's CIO expressed optimism about the airline's use of artificial intelligence, stating, "I believe there are many different areas in the travel industry where artificial intelligence can be used for both customers and employees."

Birnbaum gave an example, saying, "Your flight is delayed. Can you get me to Philadelphia instead of New York? Can you get me closer? We believe that interaction is a great use case for artificial intelligence in solving such problems."

Is artificial intelligence for pilots?

After Birnbaum's team created a system that automatically generates delay narratives in practice, they are considering where to use productive artificial intelligence technology next, with the company's next plan expected to focus on the briefing area that pilots typically provide just before takeoff.