Artificial intelligence can certainly be considered a technology development that’s rapidly moving from emerging to mainstream. While emerging technologies have been hyped before — and failed to live up to the hype — AI is the exception. It will be a tremendous enabler for transportation.
AI, in its simplest definition, is many computers doing a series of tasks collectively at high speed. Before, a computer process could execute a task up to a point, then it would need more instruction. With AI, the more thoroughly you define the “ask” to start, the more AI can learn, adjust and improve on the performance of that task.
I equate AI’s learning capability to an entry-level employee. You structure the work logically, provide clear guidance and set triggers for when to reach out for help. As the employee learns, they can take on more. Similarly, AI can learn and grow — but still needs clear instructions, structured format and continuous guidance.
Another key area where AI can be transformative is low-quality data. Innovation in this area remains a challenge. Properly designed and built, AI tools provide an elegant, continuously learning solution that helps deliver clean and complete data.
Finally, AI can automate and streamline many tasks involved in trucking — but not everything all at once. AI works best when deployed in “building blocks” of instructions. Do the building blocks first, make sure they work properly and communicate with each other and then add other more complex tasks or blocks. AI both accelerates and streamlines that process.
The incremental approach to AI is proving far more efficient and successful. Don’t let one vendor tell you they can do it all at once. That’s been a recipe for failure in the past and not one that I’d bet my supply chain dollars on.