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United Airlines has figured out a new use for artificial intelligence, and that’s talking about the weather. The airline announced Wednesday that it will start using generative AI to text passengers links to live radar maps during flight delays, 75% of which are caused by the weather, according the Federal Aviation Administration.
“For the past few years, the airline has used dedicated teams to write and send text messages to customers that give near-instantaneous details about a given flight — everything from gate changes and boarding times to more specifics regarding aircraft swaps, crew rescheduling and weather events — and the teams now use generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) tools to assist in giving more travelers real-time updates,” the company said in a statement accompanying the news.
At an investment conference in May, a Bernstein analyst asked United CEO Scott Kirby where the airline makes its biggest investments outside of planes, and he said that this was the kind of thing the company is directing its resources towards.
Regarding discretionary investments, “the place that we over-index on is technology,” he said. “We’re doing a lot with AI. Right now, that’s the place we over-index.”