Aircraft design is a complex systems engineering task. Traditional design methods often involve iterative processes across multiple disciplines, leading to prolonged design cycles. Moreover, modern systematic combat scenarios impose increasingly stringent requirements on aircraft, further escalating design challenges. The rapid advancement of AI technology is transforming various industries, and the field of aircraft design is undergoing significant changes. This paper first outlines the applications of AI in aircraft aerodynamic/structural design, intelligent cockpit, and aircraft health management, summarizing key technologies. Subsequently, it explores the opportunities brought by AI, such as improving optimization efficiency and design quality, facilitating multidisciplinary integrated design, and leveraging big data. Challenges are also discussed, including high computational demands, difficulties in data fusion, trustworthiness, and security. Preliminary solutions to these challenges are proposed, and potential future development directions are suggested for reference.