Imagine a flight where a ‘virtual assistant’ (think Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri) prepared for departure, without human assistance. This could be the way of the future when Boeing’s ‘Ellen’ comes into play.

It was announced this week that the aircraft company is now exploring innovative, artificial intelligence technology to assist cabin crews with their jobs – allowing them to focus on customers.

The concept is named after the world’s first flight attendant, Ellen Church, who took to the air in 1930. And, it seems the assistant will be able to lend a hand with cabin lighting, adjust ‘dimmable’ windows and advise the crew when the plane is ready to take off.

The plan would see Ellen respond to (human) flight attendants’ verbal cues – whether that be to check doors, lock overhead compartments, adjust the in-flight humidity or monitor the cabin for device use during take-off, for example.

It may sound like a thing of the distant future, but work is already underway to see this technology brought to life.

As to whether it’ll play out like the HAL 9000 from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is yet to be seen.