Right now, we are living in the world of artificial intelligence, and so many of us find ourselves wandering in a world of conflicting information, whether AI is the way of the future, or are we in an AI bubble that is on its way to bursting?
This year, semi-autonomous freight trucks took to the roads, driving thousands of pounds of goods across the country with little regulation. Next month, the Republican-led Senate Committee of Commerce, Science and Transportation will hold a hearing titled, “Pedal to the Policy: The Views of the American Auto Industry on the Upcoming Surface Transportation Reauthorization.” Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), the chair of the committee, announced this hearing to look into the safety regulations of auto-features on vehicles. The CEOs of Stellantis, Tesla, Ford, and General Motors will all appear before Senate Republicans to discuss vehicle affordability and safety.
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy is very bullish on AI. He loves the idea of using AI and robotics, especially in air traffic control and drones. At the same time, he has cautioned against using AI for operational use.
Logistics experts are concerned about the future of AI in their field. A panel at Trimble says they could see a “significant reduction” in employment levels. It is not all bad news, though, because these AI tools need to be managed in logistics. “They’re pretty intelligent, they have no work experience, and they need to be supervised at a fine-grained level. Like you could give them a task for up to an hour.” After that hour is up, a manager would need to check in on them.
The results of AI in logistics remain to be seen, but there is still a lot more regulation and research that needs to be done on a relatively unregulated and unknown field.