Document Establishes Seven Guiding Principles

The Federal Aviation Administration recently released a 31-page document titled “Roadmap For Artificial Intelligence Safety Assurance.” As is clarified in the name, it lays out their approach to developing fundamentals for not only safety in use of AI, but also AI in use of safety.

This so-called ‘roadmap’ was created following the recent and unnervingly quick development of AI technologies. Several meetings were held by the administration and their partners throughout 2022 and 2023 to discuss these innovations, but no formal statements were released. In this time, the Research, Engineering, and Development Advisory Committee (REDAC) recommended that the FAA publish an AI roadmap as a cure for industry concern.

In the document, seven guiding principles were noted to ensure safety in ground and airborne AI applications. These include: Work Within the Aviation Ecosystem, Focus on Safety Assurance and Safety Enhancements, Avoid Personification, Differentiate Between Learned and Learning AI, Take an Incremental Approach, Leverage the Safety Continuum, and Leverage Industry Consensus Standards.

The principles were established based on past oversights and successes in integration of new technologies. AI, however, has unique capabilities that can not be compared to these situations. This demands a completely new approach.

“[AI] presents a new challenge for systems that achieve performance and capability by learning rather than design due to the absence of engineering principles that guide the traditional engineering design process,” the FAA commented.

In addition to fostering safer use of AI, the FAA wants to employ the technology to enhance safety. They explain in the document that its data analysis capabilities could assist in the identification of precursors, anomalies, and risk patterns in accidents/incidents.

As AI technology continues to expand and evolve, the principles will have to reform alongside it. The administration looks forward to “working with the aviation industry, other aviation regulators, and US government agencies in executing and refining this roadmap.”

If you have the time, patience, or will to read the full document, it is available through the FAA’s website.

FMI: www.faa.gov/media/82891