It has been over 10 years since Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, a Boeing 777 aircraft, vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board. Since then, countries across the globe have collaborated and conducted extensive mapping of the region where the plane is believed to have disappeared but to no avail. The use of traditional methods has yielded limited insights but there is hope that modern technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and advanced satellite systems could help find the plane, with many comparing the scale of the task to finding a needle in a haystack.
AI and machine learning
Large Language Models (LLMs) are trained on copious amounts of data which can be later used to respond to search queries and relevant content. Scientists believe that feeding vast datasets from satellite transmissions, ocean currents, and previous search areas to AI could help find the blindspots that humans may have missed.
AI has been instrumental in re-evaluating past data with fresh insights, potentially narrowing down the search area more precisely than ever before. Recently, a study claimed that AI could have predicted the powerful solar storm that impacted Earth in May last year. If similar reverse engineering is applied to AI systems linked to the search operation, a breakthrough may not be far away.
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Quantum computing
Quantum computing has come a long way in the last decade. With its ability to handle complex calculations at speeds impossible to achieve using conventional computers, the environmental conditions of the Indian Ocean at the time of MH370’s disappearance can be recreated and visualised.
In December last year, Google unveiled a new quantum computer, powered by a chip, known as Willow, which completed a calculation in under five minutes which otherwise would have taken the world’s most powerful supercomputers 10 septillion years — a length of time that surpasses the age of the universe.
If such powerful computational beasts can be used to analyse oceanic influences on the flight path after MH370’s last contact, there is a possibility that we can capture the events that transpired on the fateful night of March 8, 2014.
Also Read | Google’s Latest Breakthrough A Major Leap In Quantum Computing
Enhanced satellite technology
Modern satellite systems have significantly evolved in the last few years with improved resolution and real-time data collection capabilities, especially with the entry of private players such as SpaceX.
These satellites can now monitor vast swathes of the ocean, providing clearer images and data about surface conditions, which could indicate the presence of debris or unusual oceanographic patterns that might coincide with MH370’s crash site.