Most of the time, of course, the computer is only doing what you told it to do, and with practice you learn how to push the right buttons to get the result you want. But that sense of dismay-who's really in charge here?-has underpinned our relationship with technology since HAL joined the crew on the Discovery One. In 1997, American Airlines Capt. Warren Vanderburgh coined the term "children of the magenta" in a training presentation meant to combat automation dependency among pilots who were increasingly accustomed to following the magenta course line on the flight display. Flight management computers were intended to reduce pilot workload, but the airline faced a growing number of incidents where the crew became task saturated and lost situational awareness while head-down with the technology. Vanderburgh admonished pilots to use the appropriate level of automation for the task, stepping down in automation when necessary to lower workload in a changing environment: If you find yourself asking "What's it doing now?" at a low altitude, disconnect the automation and control the airplane. Once the flight path is stabilized, you can turn your attention to troubleshooting the electronics.
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