How A.I. could help United Airlines avoid problems with overbooking passengers

The entire airline industry is at first glance highly technical and, at the same time, highly dependent on personnel to handle tough issues. The big story this week for United Airlines -- which is quickly turning into a public relations nightmare and even creating conflicts with China -- has to do with a passenger who was forcibly removed due to overbooking the seats. There are many variables to the story -- yet, it's a wake-up call because it could have been prevented using artificial intelligence. Even if the overbooking is partly a way to ensure that flights are always full, A.I. could handle that problem. Here's how it would work.