Toward the Aircraft of the Future: A Perspective from Consciousness

This paper envisions the possibility of a Conscious Aircraft: an aircraft of the future with features of consciousness. To serve this purpose, three main fields are examined: philosophy, cognitive neuroscience, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). While philosophy deals with the concept of what is consciousness, cognitive neuroscience studies the relationship of the brain with consciousness, contributing toward the biomimicry of consciousness in an aircraft. The field of AI leads into machine consciousness. The paper discusses several theories from these fields and derives outcomes suitable for the development of a Conscious Aircraft, some of which include the capability of developing “world-models”, learning about self and others, and the prerequisites of autonomy, selfhood, and emotions. Taking these cues, the paper focuses on the latest developments and the standards guiding the field of autonomous systems, and suggests that the future of autonomous systems depends on its transition toward consciousness. Finally, inspired by the theories suggesting the levels of consciousness, guided by the Theory of Mind, and building upon state-of-the-art aircraft with autonomous systems, this paper suggests the development of a Conscious Aircraft in three stages: Conscious Aircraft with (1) System-awareness, (2) Self-awareness, and (3) Fleet-awareness, from the perspectives of health management, maintenance, and sustainment.