The Intersection of AI and Aviation: NTSB’s Encounter with Recreated Pilot Voices
In the latest sign of these AI-heavy times, the National Transportation Safety Board has temporarily blocked access to its records system after discovering that voices of pilots who died in a UPS plane crash last year had been recreated using AI and were circulating on the Internet.
Understanding the NTSB’s Restrictions
Federal law prohibits the NTSB from including cockpit audio recordings in its filing system, which otherwise contains a wealth of investigative data and has historically been open to the public. However, there was a spectrogram file from the voice recorder in the accident log of that flight. A spectrogram uses a mathematical process to convert sound signals, including low and high frequencies, into an image.
The Role of AI in Reconstructing Audio
Scott Manley, a popular YouTuber whose channel combines physics, astronomy, and video games, noted on X that it might be possible to reconstruct audio from the megabytes of data encoded in this image.
And that’s exactly what happened. According to the NTSB, people used the spectrogram along with the publicly available transcript to create approximations of the cockpit voice recorder audio from UPS Flight 2976 in Louisville, Kentucky. According to social media posts, they used AI tools like Codex.
NTSB’s Response and Future Implications
The agency restored public access to the records system on Friday, but kept 42 investigations closed pending review – including the investigation related to Flight 2976.
This incident highlights the profound capabilities of artificial intelligence in processing and recreating audio data. It also underscores the need for stringent guidelines and security measures to protect sensitive information in the digital age. The NTSB’s quick action reflects their commitment to upholding the integrity of their investigative processes while adapting to emerging technological challenges.
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