Commentators have been waxing lyrical about how AI is set to transform the maritime industry, and with good reason. Increasingly compelling use cases are emerging in applications such as route optimisation, safety of navigation, fuel efficiency, compliance, predictive maintenance, cargo management and many more.
However amidst the hype and with businesses rushing to take AI MVPs to market or to their fleets, there is a need for concerted industry effort in developing collaborative forum and policy frameworks.
In the words of the late Professor Stephen Hawking “Success in creating AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilisation. But it could also be the last – unless we learn how to avoid the risks.”
Maritime CEO spoke with Manish Singh, CEO of Aboutships, for his views on the opportunities and perils that AI adoption brings to the maritime sector.
“We are seeing early adopters within maritime sector embrace AI with varying degrees of effectiveness. There however seems to be a trend to stick GPT at the end of maritime terms and rush out applications as businesses hurriedly take their seats in the maritime AI theatre,” Singh says. “Often this is happening pre-maturely, without optimal data architecture and before appropriate policy and resilience frameworks are put in place.”
There is transformation potential in pretty much every area of maritime supply chain operations, he says, while cautioning that there are also very real and immediate risks to consider.
Consistency and quality of data remain an area for improvement, Singh points out. Also, with incidents of cyber breaches increasing rapidly in the maritime sector, businesses first need to bolster their cyber resilience before AI can safely be integrated into their operations.
Data ownership remains a “vague concept” in the maritime services sector, according to Singh, and as companies leverage AI to create insights and monetise them, he expects to see more disputes arising on data privacy, ownership and liabilities on third-party access.”
The range of considerations are vast, fast-changing and don’t follow a one-size-fits-all pattern, Singh advises. In his interactions with technology investors, CEOs from other industries, research institutions and others, Singh feels that there is an immediate need to create improved awareness and collaborative approach towards AI within the maritime sector.
Therefore as part of its industry outreach, AboutShips is impanelling a multi-disciplinary team of experts including maritime CEOs and technologists, data scientists, machine learning experts, intellectual property legal specialists and more, something the team at Maritime CEO and Splash will also be partnering with this initiative, bringing AI insights to the industry in the coming months.
Singh will be speaking at the Making Data Actionable Workshop on May 2 at Geneva Dry.
Great read!
The maritime industry is on the verge of transformation, thanks to Industry 4.0, with AI being at the forefront. Aboutships’ foray into this area can be greatly beneficial for the sector. While AI is now considered to be a general-purpose technology, similar to electricity or steam engines, it’s equally important to know when, how, for what, and when not to use AI.
Aboutships’ comprehensive team of domain and technology experts, can assist in developing a well-informed roadmap for Maritime 4.0 (including associated technologies – IoT, big data, robotics, automation & cybersecurity)
Simplification of technological processes and sustainable development in the future are associated with the introduction of AI. Already, technical innovations in artificial intelligence, AR, IoT, quantum computing, developments in the fields of GreenTech and Deep Tech are simplifying the transport planning system and helping to optimise work processes. This is the near future of most industries, including maritime logistics.
Today, the latest ideas of artificial intelligence allow for accurate calculations of delivery costs, create a wide range of different capabilities that simplify the planning of logistics processes, and facilitate the autonomous performance of many functions. In the logistics sector, you can already choose services from companies that are rapidly implementing AI ideas: GLS und UPS / GLS oder UPS https://shipstage.com/blog/der-vergleich-der-paketzustelldienste-von-ups-und-gls
Taken together, these technical innovations with digital models are an excellent foundation for the development of the maritime business in 2024.