To provide ‘a glimpse of the future to come with AI-enabled machines’,
GE Aerospace researchers (at Niskayuna, NY) have successfully integrated generative AI with computer vision to demonstrate ‘AI with child-like learning capabilities’. GE Aerospace’s AI technology, funded through DARPA’s ECOLE programme, was demonstrated at the
Ash Carter Exchange for Innovation and National Security and AI Expo, which took place earlier this month in Washington DC.
Recognising that AI can achieve some level of conceptual understanding through pattern recognition that draws inferences from large datasets of millions of images, GE Aerospace researchers — through their work with DARPA — have demonstrated AI that can both understand and explain concepts, and thereby allow for a new form of continuous learning where the system can analyse its mistakes and subsequently improve its performance.
Peter Tu, chief AI scientist at GE Aerospace Research (pictured), said: “Rapid advances in generative AI and computer vision are getting us much closer to creating AI- agents that can enter into new environments, understand what is happening and do the right thing. The more we can augment machines with this form of intelligence, the more it can help the Department of Defence, businesses, and individuals improve the way we live, work, and perform.
“In the aerospace industry, we are already developing AI to improve aircraft utilisation, make our process workflows more efficient, and enhance inspection processes to improve safety. With these examples, it is all about using AI to help optimise aircraft scheduling, enable our sales workforce to search and seamlessly work through hundreds of pages of a customer’s service agreements (CSAs), or use AI to augment a visual inspection process for parts that helps the service engineer see more and be more productive.”
Mr Tu says the goal is to develop AI agents that ‘are robust to unforeseen circumstances’ and are trusted by their human counterparts, thereby allowing for collaboration in a wide variety of work-related tasks. “When it’s all said and done, we want to deploy AI in ways that make our lives better and more productive. In the aerospace industry, it means integrating AI to help make air travel safer and on-time for passengers. That is what we are ultimately striving to achieve.”