WASHINGTON (7News) — At a committee listening to Wednesday, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D – Connecticut) expressed concern that Artificial Intelligence (AI) could possibly be utilized by airlines to exploit some customers by charging them increased costs.
“Is it honest if two customers looking at precisely the identical time are charged totally different costs?” Blumenthal requested representatives of 5 U.S. airlines —American, Frontier, Delta, Spirit, and United.
Blumenthal mentioned he was notably concerned AI could possibly be used, for instance, to find somebody’s liked one has died after which cost the individual extra for a ticket.
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“Airlines might use these instruments to exploit passengers’ worst moments,” Blumenthal mentioned.
He then requested a consultant of American Airlines: “Are you able to commit that American will by no means use AI to exploit passengers who’re touring for a household emergency or perhaps a funeral?”
Steve Johnson, chief technique officer for American, agreed that the corporate wouldn’t try this.
However neither Johnson nor any of the opposite 4 representatives of different airlines would decide to not utilizing AI for charging “totally different fares or charges for various passengers on the identical time for a similar flight.”
Among the airline representatives tried to minimize Blumenthal’s considerations over AI, mentioning they hope to make use of it for good.
“It’s fairly straightforward to instantly take into consideration the problems with AI; the issues that might go improper, the issues that gained’t be shopper pleasant,” Johnson mentioned. “However AI is doubtlessly a superb computational and automation device that can be utilized in lots of, many extraordinary methods.”
“For example,” Johnson continued, “our dabbling with AI within the early phases is concentrated on making an attempt to run our operation higher. We function 6000 flights utilizing 1700 plane twelve months of the yr.”
“Senator, I feel you’re making an assumption about what AI can be used for, once I can inform you that that’s actually not the conclusion that we have now come to up to now,” mentioned Peter Carter, the chief exterior affairs officer for Delta. “Our use of AI is extremely small. We’re simply making an attempt to know AI’s software.”
The sworn testimony from the airlines got here throughout a listening to of the Everlasting Subcommittee on Investigations, which is a part of the Committee on Homeland Safety and Governmental Affairs.