Inside the FAA’s big bet to fix flight delays

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What is the current state of the UN and why is the General Assembly so contentious?

Shumita Basu 0:05
Good morning. The United Nations General Assembly begins today as its secretary general gets ready to end his decade-long tenure.
Adam Taylor 0:12
He's very much leaving the United Nations in a very different state than he inherited it. And I think most people would agree that's not necessarily his fault, but it is just the reality.
Shumita Basu 0:22
The FAA is turning to AI to fix flight delays. And the latest Hollywood creation from the mind of George Lucas. It's Tuesday, September 22nd. I'm Shemita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
Shumita Basu 0:45
It's barely even begun, but U.N. watchers are already setting the bar very low for this week's gatherings. Adam Taylor is a national security reporter for The Washington Post who spoke to us from New York, where he'll be covering the General Assembly.
Adam Taylor 0:58
I would say the sort of shocking thing is the lack of any expectation for something concrete to happen on, say, Iran or Ukraine. It actually almost seems like a lot of the diplomatic energy that might happen will be almost completely outside of the U.N. system.
Shumita Basu 1:14
meaning that if there is progress toward ending wars in those countries, it might happen on the sidelines.

How is Secretary‑General Guterres framing his final UNGA speech on global crises?

Shumita Basu 1:20
President Trump, who is scheduled to address the assembly today, plans to meet with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, and he will reportedly also talk to a number of Gulf leaders to hear concerns about the war in Iran. These ongoing conflicts come at a difficult moment of transition for the U.N., It has struggled to find a diplomatic foothold in the Iran war as the U.S. and Israel have sidestepped the coalition on several occasions. Both launched attacks without seeking authorization from the U.N. Security Council, which itself has been deeply divided over how to handle this war and others. Taylor says that's indicative of the weakened role the U.N. has on the global stage right now.
Adam Taylor 2:01
There's a sort of gridlock in this way that there wasn't, you know, 10 years ago. And that makes it really difficult for the UN to do things like place sanctions or when it helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal. And so I think there is like a really big change there.
Shumita Basu 2:16
That gridlock, Taylor told us, is in part what will define the legacy of the outgoing Secretary General Antonio Guterres, even if most people agree that it's not necessarily his fault. His term ends in December, so this will be his last General Assembly. He recently spoke about the need for more international allyship.
Unknown 2:35
At a time when the world faces three existential threats, runaway artificial intelligence, the climate crisis, and the intolerable deepening of inequalities, international cooperation is more necessary than ever.
Shumita Basu 2:49
Guterres will address the Assembly today.

Why is the FAA deploying a new AI tool to predict and reduce flight delays?

Adam Taylor 2:51
I think a lot of people are expecting his final UNGA speech to be pretty downbeat. And I think from what we've been hearing, he's going to make a pretty serious acknowledgement of the sort of strain that the United Nations is under right now.
Shumita Basu 3:04
The strain is geopolitical and financial. The U.S. had been withholding billions of dollars in payments to the United Nations earlier this year. President Trump had characterized it as wasteful spending and suggested he'll withhold funds until reforms are made to cut budgets at the U.N. Though earlier this month, the U.S. paid $725 million, reducing its debt and ensuring that it will retain a vote as a member nation. When it comes to choosing a successor to lead the U.N., the U.S. could potentially veto options, though it could take some months before the Security Council agrees on candidates and sends them off for a vote by the full assembly.
Shumita Basu 3:53
The FAA wants to use AI to fix something that trips up travelers all the time, flight delays. The agency rolled out a new tool Monday designed to help air traffic controllers sift through data, identify disruptions before they happen, and suggest alternate
Oriana Pawlyk 4:09
routes. It's supposed to help air traffic controllers be more predictive and see things like where weather will be instead of where weather is, for example.
Shumita Basu 4:19
Oriana Pollack covers aviation for Politico and spoke with us about how this tool is supposed to work.

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