World's first humanoid pilot robot 'PIBOT' operates aircraft using AI technology

SOUTH Korean researchers have developed an advanced humanoid pilot robot called ‘PIBOT’, which can understand flight manuals and operate the full process of flight using artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The research team, led by electrical engineering professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), David Hyunchul Shim, said PIBOT is the world’s first humanoid pilot based on Large Language Model (LLM) technology, that allows the robot to comprehend human pilot manuals written in general language. “(Conventional autopilot) can only a control the speed, altitude, or bearings, but our pilot robot PIBOT can manage everything in the airplane including turning on and off the engines and fly the airplane, take off crews and land, everything,” Shim told Reuters. In emergency situations, the pilot robot can respond quickly without panic and calculate safe route, as it can recall aircraft operation manuals and Quick Reference Handbook (QRH) procedures immediately, by