MKS sports 2022. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Yang Jun)" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-02-19/58f6c41b-895b-4a25-a25b-d7ae8c6fe24a.jpeg" />

A J-20 fighter jet pilot assigned to a PLA air force base contacts with the control tower in the cockpit after landing safely on the runway during an air combat training exercise involving multi-type fighter jets on May 17, 2022. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Yang Jun)

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force has integrated new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), into its annual pilot recruitment program for 2025 to boost precision in selection. An expert expressed hope that AI will help recruit more capable pilots.

Recently, the final selection phase of the PLA Air Force's 2025 pilot recruitment program has been fully initiated. This year's pilot recruitment selection has introduced new technologies and new equipment, with AI deeply integrated into the recruitment process, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Wednesday.

The final selection phase is the last hurdle in the recruitment process. It primarily consists of medical and psychological evaluations, with the medical evaluations encompassing more than 100 different tests, which are designed to provide a comprehensive prediction and assessment of the candidates' long-term health and adaptability to human-machine interaction, according to CCTV.

In recent years, as the advent of new aircraft and new equipment has imposed higher demands on the physical and psychological qualities of flight personnel, the PLA Air Force's pilot recruitment program has been continuously enhancing the scientific rigor and precision of its selection criteria, the report said.

This year's pilot recruitment selection has incorporated cutting-edge technologies and equipment, such as contact-free 3D body morphology measurement, wearable dynamic electrocardiogram monitoring and AI-assisted interview decision-making systems, CCTV reported.

The AI-assisted system has been deeply integrated into the interview process, which enables technologies to interpret the physical elements, and leaves the human elements to the experts, Zhang Yishuang, a pilot recruitment expert at the PLA Air Force, said in the CCTV report.

AI plays multiple roles in the recruitment process, acting as a precise evaluator, data analyst and bridge for human-machine collaboration by interpreting candidates' physical signals, penetrating psychological appearances and predicting long-term risks. Consequently, the pilot recruitment selection has evolved into a dual-engine model of "data intelligence plus human insight," enhancing the accuracy and depth of the evaluation process, the report noted.

Based on big data and optimized algorithms, AI can form a decision-making system to assist pilot recruitment finding talented candidates and filter out those with hidden shortcomings, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

The recruited candidates under the assistance of AI should hopefully become more capable pilots, Song said.

The PLA Air Force are setting up evaluation centers across the country from mid-February to end April for high school graduates who have passed preliminary evaluations, then additional evaluation centers will be established at multiple locations for those who performed well in gaokao, China's college entrance examinations, in mid- to late June, CCTV reported.