Can Claude Fly a Plane?

Article

• Experiment using Claude to fly a simulated plane via screenshot/API control loop
• Claude crashed twice: once from poor P-only control logic, once from 20-second gap between invocations
• Demonstrates LLM latency and token-per-second limits as fundamental barriers to real-time control

Discussion

• Core critique: token latency (seconds) vs. autopilot response times (milliseconds) makes LLMs wrong tool
• Existing autopilots already fly airliners; we’d trust them more than Claude
• Interesting finding: Claude dropped I and D from PID control, using pure proportional — poor choice
• Consensus: 99% of flying is easy, edge cases and real-time reaction is where it fails

Discuss on HN