The Capabilities and Limitations of AI Systems at NASA

In the past 20 years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made several advancements. Because of AI’s ability to process large datasets better than humans, it is thought to have a promising future in many fields. Despite their advantages, AI and specifically Machine Learning (ML) algorithms can have emergent behavior, which makes their adoption into safety-critical systems a challenge. Through an examination of the capabilities of AI systems at NASA, we see what AI is currently being used for and which algorithms are promising for future work. We also identify limitations in the potential impact of AI systems, noting that the majority of the reviewed papers focused on limitations in adopting AI systems rather than limitations in the technical abilities of AI systems. This review article provides insight into AI and ML algorithms, aviation, space and other AI-based platforms for automation.