Excessive pilot workload is one of the significant causes of flight accidents. The detection of flight workload can help optimize aircraft crew operation procedures, improve cockpit human–machine interface (HMIs) design, and ultimately reduce the risk of flight accidents. However, traditional detection methods often employ invasive or patch-based devices that can interfere with the pilot’s control. In addition, they generally lack real-time capabilities, while the workload of pilots actually varies continuously. Moreover, most models do not take individual physiological differences into account, leading to the poor performance of new pilots. To address these issues, this study developed a real-time pilot workload detection model based on low-interference devices, including telemetry eye trackers and a pressure-sensing seat cushion. Specifically, the Adaptive KNN-Ensemble Pilot Workload Detection (AKE-PWD) model is proposed, combining KNN in the outer layer for identifying the physiological feature cluster with the ensemble classifier corresponding to this cluster in the inner layer. The ensemble model employs random forest, gradient boosting trees, and FCN–Transformer as base learners. It utilizes soft voting for predictions, integrating the strengths of various networks and effectively extracting the sequential features from complex data. Results show that the model achieves a detection accuracy of 82.6% on the cross-pilot testing set, with a runtime of 0.1 s, surpassing most studies that use invasive or patch-based detection devices. Additionally, the model demonstrates high accuracy across different individuals, indicating good generalization. The results are expected to improve flight safety.

The occurrence of flight risks and accidents is closely related to pilot workload. Effective detection of pilot workload has been a key research area in the aviation industry. However, traditional methods for detecting pilot workload have several shortcomings: firstly, the collection of metrics via contact-based devices can interfere with pilots; secondly, real-time detection of pilot workload is challenging, making it difficult to capture sudden increases in workload; thirdly, the detection accuracy of these models is limited; fourthly, the models lack cross-pilot generalization. To address these challenges, this study proposes a large language model, WorkloadGPT, which utilizes low-interference indicators: eye movement and seat pressure. Specifically, features are extracted in 10 s time windows and input into WorkloadGPT for classification into low, medium, and high workload categories. Additionally, this article presents the design of an appropriate text template to serialize the tabular feature dataset into natural language, incorporating individual difference prompts during instance construction to enhance cross-pilot generalization. Finally, the LoRA algorithm was used to fine-tune the pre-trained large language model ChatGLM3-6B, resulting in WorkloadGPT. During the training process of WorkloadGPT, the GAN-Ensemble algorithm was employed to augment the experimental raw data, constructing a realistic and robust extended dataset for model training. The results show that WorkloadGPT achieved a classification accuracy of 87.3%, with a cross-pilot standard deviation of only 2.1% and a response time of just 1.76 s, overall outperforming existing studies in terms of accuracy, real-time performance, and cross-pilot generalization capability, thereby providing a solid foundation for enhancing flight safety.