AI in ports and terminals
By Dr Swash, Founder CEO of Aidrivers
Artificial Intelligence: heralding the end of human civilisation as we know it? creating false news and manipulating politics? adding a bizarre new dimension for dating apps? or just a way to write silly poetry?
There’s been something of a media storm around AI in recent weeks, with some scary predictions about its impact. ChatGPT has a lot to do with that. As the World Economic Forum has noted, the “meteoric rise of ChatGPT” has been a watershed moment, enabling ordinary people to experiment with AI and making them aware of just how far AI has already come. What many people didn’t realise up to now was how deeply embedded in their everyday lives AI already is, from the Google search engine to Amazon’s Alexa device.
To take a line from 17th century English philosopher Sir Francis Bacon, “Scientia potentia est”: Knowledge is Power. AI is knowledge. The challenge is what we do with that knowledge — exploit AI to create problems or to use it positively to solve problems?
AI is powerful and there is no doubt it can be misused or used “wrongly”. But it’s important to remember that AI is not sentient. Its role is to complement human capability, not to outsmart it. AI will do what it’s told to do by its programmers and, as well as taking instructions, it can learn quickly from experience.
In the context of industrial AI, it is there to do what’s already being done, but more efficiently and effectively, while freeing up humans to focus on less mundane tasks.
AI has the potential to transform the way seaports and terminals are run. There is no shortage of information and data in this dynamic sector. What terminal operators lack is the time and ability to analyse and exploit that data effectively — and that is where AI can be so transformative.
Even a pizza shop can serve its customers better and reduce waste if its owners are able to predict which toppings are likely to be in demand in the next two weeks, ordering in only what’s needed.
In a container terminal, eliminating just one move by each crane each hour, can save a huge amount of energy, with associated reductions in emissions and costs.
Today, the ports and terminals industry is suffering in terms of quality of service, downtime, waste, unpredictability and lack of resilience. The sustainable ports of the future must deliver continuity, scalability and transparency, improved productivity, safety, efficiency and effectiveness.
Why does terminal run perfectly smoothly and efficiently, while the same performance cannot be achieved in a similar terminal elsewhere? AI can give you the answer and deliver consistency.
Container terminals routinely do their ‘housekeeping’ overnight or in quieter periods, shuffling containers in the stacks and between stacks according to which ones will need to be accessed next for loading on to a ship or truck. The aim is to keep the empties aside, keep the urgent and short stay boxes at the top and the long stays at the bottom. That depends on having the right knowledge feedback. Are they underdoing or overdoing this housekeeping? Even if this particular box is going to leave soon, is another going to leave sooner? It’s about having that balance — and we can use AI to create the awareness and build cognitives to solve the problem.
The industry understands the benefits of predictive maintenance but can struggle to work this out on the basis of information available. AI can gather all the data — the when, where, who and how — to support maintenance decisions. For example, not all drivers drive in the same way. AI can pinpoint how often a vehicle has been driven and by who, whether it has been badly driven or overused, and therefore if it needs maintenance. Conversely, AI can report back if a vehicle has scarcely been used and therefore does not automatically need the scheduled maintenance.
True industrial AI should focus on sustainability in the context of three key elements: vehicles (cranes, RTGs, trucks, buses, etc.); operators (people, remote drivers, sensors, automatic gates, etc.); and environment (vessel, block, designated zone, and so on).
AI can be utilised without the ‘old school’ connectivity requirements. You don’t need everything to be tightly wired — you don’t need to have a 5G network, a high IT infrastructure or fencing out. AI can create freedom through building its own connections.
Hence AI can be used to make automation more accessible and “infrastructureless”. AI can optimise data collection and analyse for a meaningful result, enabling the terminal operator to make the best and most effective use of the equipment available for the best productivity, eliminate waste and downtime, and minimise fuel consumption and emissions.
Through all of this, the anchoring point remains the same. Operators are seeking productivity, resilience, safety and efficiency. AI can be utilised to ensure they never lose that optimum balance. Aidrivers’ AI-enabled autonomous technology provides automation that is accessible, affordable and scalable, to build truly sustainable operations.
Finally, concerns around disruptive technology are nothing new. One can imagine that people were reluctant to use washing machines when they were first invented, in case they tore the clothes. The printing press was one of the earliest disruptive technologies — its invention in the 15th century enabled the mass production of books, journals and other printed information and thus the rapid spread of knowledge and ideas. Not everyone was keen on that!
