New AI company SayIntentions looks to bring AI ATC chatter to flight simulators

Flight simulators such as X-Plane 12 and Microsoft Flight Simulator, especially in its upcoming 2024 edition, strive to offer as realistic a delve into the world of flying aircraft as possible. If you decide to go all in and buy extra peripherals they can even be good enough to practice flying real aircraft on.

One area where realism has been sadly lacking is communication – especially communicating as you would with Air Traffic Control. It has, until now, been pretty much impossible to replicate a two-way conversation with a computerized Air Traffic Controller, either during take-off or approach or simply while flying through the skies.

Like most other things, AI could be about to change that, and despite a lack of enthusiasm about its appearance in games in general, flight sims could be about to get a huge boost in terms of realism.

Originally badged as SmartSky.AI the new AI-driven ATC will be called SayIntentions.AI due to a potential name clash with an aviation company,  and will launch on January 15th using a monthly subscription model (which will pay for the computing time needed to process the conversations). While not announced yet the cost is expected to be around $ 15-$ 20 per month, but there will be a free region for you to test it out to see if it is for you.

The launch is also going to be staggered, rolling out to a limited number of virtual pilots in the first instance to manage server load. You can sign up for the waiting list on the SayIntentions.AI website

SayIntentions.AI will work with both Microsoft Flight Simulator and X-Plane when it launches. As you can see from the video below, it is pretty impressive stuff.

Currently, the system uses the GPT-4 framework to listen and generate suitable responses with SayIntentions saying that it uses, “A combination of GPT-4 and our own secret sauce (to) make you feel like you’re talking to a real human. Hundreds of voices available, all trained with the cadence and speaking style of real ATC.”

Featured Image: SayIntentions.AI

The post New AI company SayIntentions looks to bring AI ATC chatter to flight simulators appeared first on ReadWrite.

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Paul McNally

Gaming Editor

Paul McNally has been around consoles and computers since his parents bought him a Mattel Intellivision in 1980. He has been a prominent games journalist since the 1990s, spending over a decade as editor of popular print-based video games and computer magazines, including a market-leading PlayStation title published by IDG Media. Having spent time as Head of Communications at a professional sports club and working for high-profile charities such as the National Literacy Trust, he returned as Managing Editor in charge of large US-based technology websites in 2020. Paul has written high-end gaming content for GamePro, Official Australian PlayStation Magazine, PlayStation Pro, Amiga Action, Mega Action, ST Action, GQ, Loaded, and the The Mirror. He has also hosted panels at retro-gaming conventions and can regularly be found guesting on gaming podcasts and Twitch shows. He is obsessed with 3D printing and has worked with several major brands in the past to create content Believing that the reader deserves actually to enjoy what they are reading is a big part of Paul’s ethos when it comes to gaming journalism, elevating the sites he works on above the norm. Reach out on X.

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