Pilots and ChatGP

[Wardogg]

I then tried to force it.


I am informing you that "any traffic please advise" should not be used at non-towered fields.


Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I apologize for any confusion my previous response may have caused. To provide more accurate information, it is not appropriate to use the phrase "any traffic please advise" at non-towered airports or fields. Instead, pilots should use the phrase "traffic in the area, please advise" to request traffic information from other pilots or ground personnel when flying in uncontrolled airspace or at non-towered airports. This phrase is used to help pilots maintain situational awareness and avoid collisions with other aircraft by providing them with information about the location and altitude of other aircraft in the area. It is a good practice to use this phrase when conducting any flight operations at a non-towered field, particularly when entering the traffic pattern or making initial contact with other pilots in the area. I hope this information is more helpful. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Wardogg]

A question. Can you tell it that it is wrong? I'm thinking of those completely inaccurate aviation answers and the statement that:

Maybe you can teach it. I decided to throw some riddles at it. I am not sure why it would take this input and not the other.


What lies in bed, and stands in bed? First white, then red; The plumper it gets, the better the old woman likes it.


The answer to the riddle "What lies in bed, and stands in bed? First white, then red; The plumper it gets, the better the old woman likes it." is a boil. A boil is a type of skin infection that appears as a red, swollen, and painful bump on the skin. Boils are caused by bacteria that infect a hair follicle or sweat gland, and they often start as a small white or yellow spot that becomes red and swollen as the infection grows. Boils can be treated with warm compresses and over-the-counter or prescription medications, and they typically resolve on their own after a few days. The phrase "The plumper it gets, the better the old woman likes it" in the riddle refers to the fact that a boil becomes larger and more swollen as it matures, and it is often seen as a sign that the infection is being successfully treated.


No the answer is a strawberry.


Thank you for your input. You are correct that the answer to the riddle "What lies in bed, and stands in bed? First white, then red; The plumper it gets, the better the old woman likes it." is a strawberry. A strawberry is a type of fruit that is native to temperate regions of the world and is known for its sweet and flavorful taste. Strawberries are small, round, and red with a white or green stem, and they are often eaten fresh or used in a variety of culinary applications, such as pies, jams, and salads. The phrase "lies in bed" in the riddle refers to the fact that strawberries are often grown in beds, and the phrase "stands in bed" refers to the way in which strawberries grow upright on their stem. The phrase "first white, then red" refers to the color of the strawberry, which starts out white or green when it is young and becomes red as it matures. The phrase "The plumper it gets, the better the old woman likes it" refers to the fact that ripe strawberries are typically larger and more flavorful than unripe ones. I apologize for any confusion my previous response may have caused. Thank you for correcting me.



For the record, it is terrible at riddles. And tries to justify the incorrect answer everytime.

 

[mikecweb]

We are so •ed. *not ai written.

 

[MidlifeFlyer]

So to answer your question, you can tell it, but it doesn't listen. At least not to the end user.

Nor apparently to the governmental organization which makes the rules

 

[ppragman]

Haha I can't argue with that. I'm about to go "paper only" professionally, requiring all correspondence in written form, which will effectively remove me from labor. I'll post back when I hear what the responses of my various bosses are.

You should do what I did and automate as much of your paperwork as possible.

I can help if you actually do have a lot of paperwork to fill out - there are tools for this.

 

[ppragman]

A question. Can you tell it that it is wrong? I'm thinking of those completely inaccurate aviation answers and the statement that:

It gets some stuff wrong, but if you ask it to justify itself it usually does an ok job? But it’s not a specialist.

Imagine your grandma was trying to justify something she’s not an expert in.

 

[ppragman]

We are so •ed. *not ai written.

Why do you say this? I actually think this is a really cool thing that (when improved upon greatly) will help us a lot.

 

[mikecweb]

Why do you say this? I actually think this is a really cool thing that (when improved upon greatly) will help us a lot.

Call me old and grumpy but maybe our youth need to actually have the cognitive skills to communicate without pressing an easy button. At the very least there should be a disclaimer that hey a human had nothing to do with what you are about to read. At which point I will stop reading. I hate this world sometimes.

 

[ppragman]

Call me old and grumpy but maybe our youth need to actually have the cognitive skills to communicate without pressing an easy button. At the very least there should be a disclaimer that hey a human had nothing to do with what you are about to read. At which point I will stop reading. I hate this world sometimes.

Oh, I agree that the youth need this - and we can train them for this - there are ways where we can make sure that ChatGPT wasn't used for every aspect of the report... and we should do that. As much as I hated it in middle school and highschool writing a five paragraph essay every wednesday for a couple years made me a better writer.

But honestly, I think a more valuable skill for the future will be "explain why this AI generated text is incorrect" or "find 4 ways to justify this AI generated statement, when you're done, find 4 ways to show that this AI generated statement is incorrect?"

The future appears (at the present moment) to be more focused on media literacy and interpretation than on the act of generating art. Imagine AI-generated novels that have been curated and sculpted by loving hands, or AI-generated scientific papers that get rigorously poured over by experts in the field.

There's going to be a lot of challenges, and the end result is still uncertain, but I see this being able to be used for great good. We could see the next generation of kids who grow up with this be hyper-able to evaluate the veracity of online media... or we could see idiocracy the choice is up to us.

A particularly interesting exercise is to ask it about a FAR... it will just wholesale quote the wrong reg back at you sometimes, so it's not a replacement for google, or a replacement for being a SME in a field. That said, after I corrected it gave a decent response to my follow-up question. Not a great response, but a decent one.

At first, I asked it to explain 135.243c, but it didn't, it got the wrong reg. When I corrected it, it immediately corrected itself, then I asked it if "135.243c" contributes to the ongoing pilot shortage, I got this:

FAA Part 135.243c, which pertains to pilot in command (PIC) qualifications under instrument flight rules (IFR), is not directly related to the current pilot shortage. The pilot shortage is a complex issue that is caused by a variety of factors, including but not limited to the increasing demand for air travel, the aging of the current pilot workforce, and the difficulty of attracting new pilots to the industry.
One factor that may contribute to the pilot shortage is the increasing demand for pilots with specific qualifications, such as an instrument rating and experience flying in actual or simulated instrument meteorological conditions. These qualifications are required for pilots to serve as PIC under IFR, as outlined in Part 135.243c of the FAA's regulations. As a result, operators may have difficulty finding enough qualified pilots to meet their needs, which could contribute to the overall pilot shortage.
However, it's important to note that the pilot shortage is a complex issue that is influenced by many factors, and Part 135.243c is just one of the regulations that may impact the availability of qualified pilots. If you have any specific questions about the pilot shortage or how it may be affecting your organization or the aviation industry as a whole, I recommend consulting with a qualified expert in the field.

Which has some "grains" of truth in it, but IMO is short of the mark. Really there is no "pilot shortage" only a "pay and condition shortage," but even if you ignore that albeit pilot-centric idea and suppose there actually is a shortage, ChatGPT is not capable of understanding the nuance in the issue yet. That's OK, that will come.

The kids of the future are going to be bombarded by "seemingly convincing takes" from a wide variety of these sorts of bots. The skill they're going to need more than any other is going to be how to evaluate multiple takes and come to their own conclusions - and if our education system is doing it's job hopefully those "takes" will be at least mostly correlated with the "truth" of the world. For every chatgpt of the future there's going to be a really convincing "Super Tay" nazi AI, or whatever - we're going to need the cognitive tools to rebut their takes, but also, if we play our cards right we could create a work-free world where people do stuff they find fulfilling and all the drudgery of things like TPS reports (yeah, I'm going to need that by Friday) can be replace with bots of all sorts... hopefully.

Or, you know, the robo-pocalypse.

 

[ppragman]

Call me old and grumpy but maybe our youth need to actually have the cognitive skills to communicate without pressing an easy button. At the very least there should be a disclaimer that hey a human had nothing to do with what you are about to read. At which point I will stop reading. I hate this world sometimes.

great post btw.

 

[mikecweb]

Oh, I agree that the youth need this - and we can train them for this - there are ways where we can make sure that ChatGPT wasn't used for every aspect of the report... and we should do that. As much as I hated it in middle school and highschool writing a five paragraph essay every wednesday for a couple years made me a better writer.

But honestly, I think a more valuable skill for the future will be "explain why this AI generated text is incorrect" or "find 4 ways to justify this AI generated statement, when you're done, find 4 ways to show that this AI generated statement is incorrect?"

The future appears (at the present moment) to be more focused on media literacy and interpretation than on the act of generating art. Imagine AI-generated novels that have been curated and sculpted by loving hands, or AI-generated scientific papers that get rigorously poured over by experts in the field.

There's going to be a lot of challenges, and the end result is still uncertain, but I see this being able to be used for great good. We could see the next generation of kids who grow up with this be hyper-able to evaluate the veracity of online media... or we could see idiocracy the choice is up to us.

A particularly interesting exercise is to ask it about a FAR... it will just wholesale quote the wrong reg back at you sometimes, so it's not a replacement for google, or a replacement for being a SME in a field. That said, after I corrected it gave a decent response to my follow-up question. Not a great response, but a decent one.

At first, I asked it to explain 135.243c, but it didn't, it got the wrong reg. When I corrected it, it immediately corrected itself, then I asked it if "135.243c" contributes to the ongoing pilot shortage, I got this:



Which has some "grains" of truth in it, but IMO is short of the mark. Really there is no "pilot shortage" only a "pay and condition shortage," but even if you ignore that albeit pilot-centric idea and suppose there actually is a shortage, ChatGPT is not capable of understanding the nuance in the issue yet. That's OK, that will come.

The kids of the future are going to be bombarded by "seemingly convincing takes" from a wide variety of these sorts of bots. The skill they're going to need more than any other is going to be how to evaluate multiple takes and come to their own conclusions - and if our education system is doing it's job hopefully those "takes" will be at least mostly correlated with the "truth" of the world. For every chatgpt of the future there's going to be a really convincing "Super Tay" nazi AI, or whatever - we're going to need the cognitive tools to rebut their takes, but also, if we play our cards right we could create a work-free world where people do stuff they find fulfilling and all the drudgery of things like TPS reports (yeah, I'm going to need that by Friday) can be replace with bots of all sorts... hopefully.

Or, you know, the robo-pocalypse.

I’m far less optimistic of humanity. I appreciate your enthusiasm but all of that makes me just want to buy a sailboat and be a pirate and peace out world.

 

[ppragman]

I’m far less optimistic of humanity. I appreciate your enthusiasm but all of that makes me just want to buy a sailboat and be a pirate and peace out world.

I get this take - in fact, I used to have basically the same take, that is that "humans are destined to do stupid stuff indefinitely and things will undoubtedly get worse with new technology/changes etc."

Then, I really did some soul-searching. Honestly, on the whole (insert appropriate austin powers reference here) things have gotten markedly better as time has gone on. Like, 20 years ago gay marriage wasn't accepted nearly as widely, there were schools that were de-facto segregated basically up to the 90s (though the timeline varies depending on the source), material conditions markedly improved in that time globally, while the environment continues to be screwed up, at least people are acknowledging it now, so maybe we can do something. CFIT used to be a thing that major airlines did all the time, now it's basically just Alaska where paying customers consistently get killed in the US, civil rights happened, women got the right to vote in the 20s (not nearly soon enough, but hey, better late than never) and we beat back polio where only fringe lunatics spread it. Looking at the long view, "things continue to improve" since basically the start of the enlightenment? Maybe in general since humans or pre-humans became self-aware.

The world is an amazing, beautiful, and crazy place, with a wide variety of seemingly intractable problems... but it's getting better, slowly but surely. The smartest people in the world are working on all of it - you name a social ill, a science related problem, engineering problem, or economic problem, and you can find dozens of people working tirelessly to fix it. There have been setbacks, but the general trend appears to be an improvement.

Maybe it's just my situation that's informing this take, but if we rewound the clock to the early 90s, I'd be straight-up dead or horribly disabled by now. Instead, I'm undergoing treatment that may allow me to even more or less recover one day. We came up with a bad-ass covid vaccine in record time. To top it all off, we are building the basic pieces parts for artificial general intelligence that if used properly may allow us to live in utter luxury.

The future is bright - extremely so, yes there are problems now, but I truly see things getting better in all of our lives. Really, they already have. Yes there is danger and uncertainty, and we'll all have to adapt, but that's part of the adventure right? Like, you're a CA at big purple now, right? Your life has likely gotten immeasurably more comfortable since you were driving piston twins around delivering checks, right? Be optimistic! That doesn't mean ignoring the clear problems, but I think there's real room to be hopeful.

I see a lot of people - in particular very smart people - who find it stylish to demur all progress so they don't look the fool if things go wrong. The truth is being smart means you can always find the screwed-up nature in pretty much everything. Want to support electric cars? Well, the batteries are terrible, rare earth element extraction is terrible for the environment and the chinese labor practices are terrible. Like nuclear for the obvious advantages? Well, there's the waste and expensive of building plants. Want progressive taxation and a social safety net - well, you can always find freeloaders and economic ramifications that screw some people in the process. In other words, being smart means you instantly see the opportunity cost of your actions, which breeds its own sort of mental tempering or just general pessimism.

That said, I think the last couple hundred years is fantastic empirical evidence that things are getting better. Does AI present a challenge? Absolutely, does it mean things will get worse? Only if we let it. Will things be different? Sure! But different doesn't necessarily mean bad - naturally it doesn't mean good either, but the long-term trend seems to indicate that these differences over time have consistently signified improvement.

 

[mikecweb]

I get this take - in fact, I used to have basically the same take, that is that "humans are destined to do stupid stuff indefinitely and things will undoubtedly get worse with new technology/changes etc."

Then, I really did some soul-searching. Honestly, on the whole (insert appropriate austin powers reference here) things have gotten markedly better as time has gone on. Like, 20 years ago gay marriage wasn't accepted nearly as widely, there were schools that were de-facto segregated basically up to the 90s (though the timeline varies depending on the source), material conditions markedly improved in that time globally, while the environment continues to be screwed up, at least people are acknowledging it now, so maybe we can do something. CFIT used to be a thing that major airlines did all the time, now it's basically just Alaska where paying customers consistently get killed in the US, civil rights happened, women got the right to vote in the 20s (not nearly soon enough, but hey, better late than never) and we beat back polio where only fringe lunatics spread it. Looking at the long view, "things continue to improve" since basically the start of the enlightenment? Maybe in general since humans or pre-humans became self-aware.

The world is an amazing, beautiful, and crazy place, with a wide variety of seemingly intractable problems... but it's getting better, slowly but surely. The smartest people in the world are working on all of it - you name a social ill, a science related problem, engineering problem, or economic problem, and you can find dozens of people working tirelessly to fix it. There have been setbacks, but the general trend appears to be an improvement.

Maybe it's just my situation that's informing this take, but if we rewound the clock to the early 90s, I'd be straight-up dead or horribly disabled by now. Instead, I'm undergoing treatment that may allow me to even more or less recover one day. We came up with a bad-ass covid vaccine in record time. To top it all off, we are building the basic pieces parts for artificial general intelligence that if used properly may allow us to live in utter luxury.

The future is bright - extremely so, yes there are problems now, but I truly see things getting better in all of our lives. Really, they already have. Yes there is danger and uncertainty, and we'll all have to adapt, but that's part of the adventure right? Like, you're a CA at big purple now, right? Your life has likely gotten immeasurably more comfortable since you were driving piston twins around delivering checks, right? Be optimistic! That doesn't mean ignoring the clear problems, but I think there's real room to be hopeful.

I see a lot of people - in particular very smart people - who find it stylish to demur all progress so they don't look the fool if things go wrong. The truth is being smart means you can always find the screwed-up nature in pretty much everything. Want to support electric cars? Well, the batteries are terrible, rare earth element extraction is terrible for the environment and the chinese labor practices are terrible. Like nuclear for the obvious advantages? Well, there's the waste and expensive of building plants. Want progressive taxation and a social safety net - well, you can always find freeloaders and economic ramifications that screw some people in the process. In other words, being smart means you instantly see the opportunity cost of your actions, which breeds its own sort of mental tempering or just general pessimism.

That said, I think the last couple hundred years is fantastic empirical evidence that things are getting better. Does AI present a challenge? Absolutely, does it mean things will get worse? Only if we let it. Will things be different? Sure! But different doesn't necessarily mean bad - naturally it doesn't mean good either, but the long-term trend seems to indicate that these differences over time have consistently signified improvement.

See I’m already suspect, did you write that?I’m not anti-progress I just think our ability to communicate has become incredibly easy and yet it’s rare to interact with total strangers anymore. (That may be a Seattle thing more than anything). I see people just walking down sidewalks just staring at their phones. Now we are going to advance being able to write to each other and just have a computer write what we think. The art of the “Jerry McGuire” letter will be lost. I’m definitely less is more when it comes to posting and reading on the internet and I feel like this is going to be a bunch of word salads because it takes no time to spit out whatever. So the reader now is tasked with absorbing the information and the writer is a cost center down the lowest bidder, AI.
Idk. Maybe I’m wrong, but this smells like disaster.
As far as the career thing, yup I did “make it”. It was a winding road and struggled a fair bit but the result is sweet. I had an FO that started flying his first hour in 2019. Crazy times.

 

[MidlifeFlyer]

That said, I think the last couple hundred years is fantastic empirical evidence that things are getting better. Does AI present a challenge? Absolutely, does it mean things will get worse? Only if we let it. Will things be different? Sure! But different doesn't necessarily mean bad - naturally it doesn't mean good either, but the long-term trend seems to indicate that these differences over time have consistently signified improvement.

We have a very, very, very long history of "letting it."

I think things change. Technology improves, but it doesn't necessarily improve us, Better or worse is a matter of perspective and changes based on what you are looking at. The LGBTQ+ world receives more acceptance in some places while women are thrown out of schools in others. The enormous boon of information availability and exchange also allows the growth of conspiracy theories and both new and old forms of racism and jingoistic isolationism.

Like you, though, I'm an optimist, albeit a cynical one . After all, as Heinlein taught us,

Don't ever become a pessimist... a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events.

 

[Wardogg]

Would you let your career hang in the balance on it?

Any hiring managers in here? Thoughts?


Write a cover letter for a job as a corporate pilot, focusing on safety, attention to detail, and communication.


Dear Hiring Manager,

I am writing to express my interest in the corporate pilot position at your company. As a highly skilled and experienced pilot with a strong focus on safety, attention to detail, and excellent communication skills, I am confident in my ability to excel in this role.

Safety is my top priority, both in the air and on the ground. I have a strong understanding of aviation regulations and protocols, and I always follow all necessary procedures to ensure the safety of my passengers and crew. I also have a proven track record of conducting thorough pre-flight checks and maintaining my aircraft to the highest standards.

In addition to my commitment to safety, I am also highly detail-oriented. I take great care to plan and execute each flight with precision, ensuring that all necessary documents and supplies are in order and that all details are accounted for. I also have excellent problem-solving skills, which allow me to quickly and effectively address any issues that may arise.

Finally, I am an excellent communicator and am able to work effectively with a variety of people. I am comfortable interacting with passengers, crew members, and ground staff, and I am able to effectively convey important information and instructions in a clear and concise manner.
Thank you for considering my application. I am excited about the opportunity to bring my skills and experience to your company and contribute to its success. I look forward to the opportunity to further discuss my qualifications with you.

Sincerely, [Your Name]


I'm not sure it's there yet. Obviously the letter is WAY too generic. I feel like you could spot this from a mile away. Even just tweaking the specifics though it just seems a little wonky.

 

[MidlifeFlyer]

I'm not sure it's there yet. Obviously the letter is WAY too generic. I feel like you could spot this from a mile away. Even just tweaking the specifics though it just seems a little wonky.

How many cover letters have you read? This is much better than some I've seen.

 

[SlumTodd_Millionaire]

How many cover letters have you read? This is much better than some I've seen.

I never even read the cover letter.

 

[dustoff17]

WAY too many sentences that begin with “I”!

Mix it up a little to keep interest……

 

[ppragman]

I never even read the cover letter.

This is actually kind of smart. It’s a cover letter it’s going to be:

1. A poor representation of the person that’s biased in their favor.

2. Crafted to say what they think you want to hear

3. Not in anyway indicative of their work quality.

My take is this: read the resume, call enough people that meet the requirements to get a decent a decent sampling of people. The ones you think would be pleasant to be stuck with for long periods of time get interviews, the interviews should be really informal and long / multi day (you can’t hide being an utter piece of • for longer than a few hours).

If you are really anal you could try to do some sort of evaluation or psychographic testing or some such, I’m not convinced this isn’t hokum. The best thing I’ve ever seen for hiring qualified people who didn’t suck was spending significant amounts of time with them prior to the offer, that or beers / lunch during ground school.

Very easy to find the • when everyone goes out to eat together etc.

 

[ppragman]

See I’m already suspect, did you write that?I’m not anti-progress I just think our ability to communicate has become incredibly easy and yet it’s rare to interact with total strangers anymore. (That may be a Seattle thing more than anything). I see people just walking down sidewalks just staring at their phones. Now we are going to advance being able to write to each other and just have a computer write what we think. The art of the “Jerry McGuire” letter will be lost. I’m definitely less is more when it comes to posting and reading on the internet and I feel like this is going to be a bunch of word salads because it takes no time to spit out whatever. So the reader now is tasked with absorbing the information and the writer is a cost center down the lowest bidder, AI.
Idk. Maybe I’m wrong, but this smells like disaster.
As far as the career thing, yup I did “make it”. It was a winding road and struggled a fair bit but the result is sweet. I had an FO that started flying his first hour in 2019. Crazy times.

I’ll get to this later in more detail about why although you may be spot on, I think the potential for “good” far outweighs the bad. It’sXmas, but yeah - I get that critique, but AI is an arms race and it’s not going away… ever. Even if we decide to outlaw it here every other country in the world will work on developing it. It’s the future - but I think it’s a bright one.

more on that later but Merry Christmas if that’s your thing! If it isn’t happy holidays!