Ai: great potential but bits of the jigsaw still to be completed

For tech-savvy investors, big gains have been scored in picking the right names. For the port communities- which interface with the world of vessels, and then with the parallel universes of cargo moves and landside infrastructure, AI is clearly worth watching- though with a weather eye, rather than as an instant action item.

Years back, on several of the tech projects I worked on, I became a big fan of something called “XML”, a programming protocol which had the ability to assist in sharing of data. A few months ago, in this column, I wrote about “APIs” which work differently, but also offer the capability to link disparate data flows (and underlying data repositories) together.

Do readers detect a theme here?

To me, when looking at ports, it’s all about translation and moving actionable information “across the dock”. At a few of the world’s largest ports – including some in the States, planners have made great strides with management of cargo flow data. But these efforts can be likened to individual islands; island hopping may be fun for tourists, but it is not viable for managing cargo flows on a worldwide basis.

“Machine learning”, another term that is often conjoined with AI, has been used by maritime players in recognising patterns. However, the vast interplay of variables affecting cargo flows (and, hence, having the ability to improve scheduling and day to day operations) limits its applicability to looking out beyond a few weeks, maybe one or two months. From my vantage point, I would hope that ports would think about infusing AI applications (not the well-known ones like ChatGPT, but rather platforms with a logistics specialty) on top of their existing data management platforms. This will enable port planners to “see” further into the future, enabling more rigorous testing to accompany their recommendations and decisions with longer-term implications.

But there is still the issue of “island hopping”. There are efforts to look at standardising some parts of the data universe; for example, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is now undertaking a data initiative. As I sit back and ponder all the parallel universes behind cargo flows (writers have that luxury!), I would ask questions along the lines of how, exactly, efforts like those at the FMC might interact with those of other bodies (pick one, but the International Maritime Organization, or IMO, comes to mind)? The IMO’s dictates will have broad implications- not the least of which concern ships being forced to slow down as rules on carbon intensity of fuel consumption evolve. Quite a bit for this tourist, maybe using an AI assist as a guidebook, to ponder.