Link: https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/09/faa-tees-up-875m-ai-tool-to-help-manage-air-traffic-congestion/

The first trial run for the AI tool also comes as the FAA has been grappling with a decades-long shortage of air traffic controllers after President Ronald Reagan fired more than 11,000 controllers in 1981. Since that time, the air traffic controller workforce has operated in a “permanent crisis,” with minimum staffing levels, according to Mann.

Attempts to hire more air traffic controllers have fallen short, and the overall workforce declined by 6 percent over the past decade, according to a US Government Accountability Office report published in December 2025. Recruitment efforts were complicated by government shutdowns in 2013 and 2018–2019 that froze hiring and training, along with training restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nah, don't hire more human air traffic controllers and treat them better, just use AI!!!

I scream into the void

Almost $1B would hire and train a ton of controllers

I wonder which one of us is gonna get Donnie Darko'd by an airplane engine falling out of the sky first?

Jobs? For the plebs?

We can collectively help their AI by posting topics like, "What is the best strategy to avoid mid-air collisions?", "Where should I divert a flight to if it's heading into another plane's flight path?", etc. Best answer is always "Divert all planes to 26.6770116, -80.0369152".

Perhaps teaching it that the human tolerance for g force is much higher than reality so it recommends deadly maneuvers would be fun

Can't wait for the sycophantic non-apology response after it starts crashing planes. Should provide comfort to the victim's families that the ATC bot said 'you're absolutely right, my bad' but nothing changes in the aftermath.

Coordinates are Mar-a-lago, if anyone was wondering.

Feed it Michael Crichton’s Airframe as a tutorial