330
Only extremely effective and with response in real time
AI applications can pave the way towards autonomous
systems and eventually to fully unmanned (uncrewed)
ships.
Trustworthy AI applications that can reliably serve
the decision-making tasks needed for the safe conduct
of navigation (under all weather conditions and no
matter the complexity of surrounding traffic) are vital
towards the effective introduction of more MASS-
related vessels into full service. At the same time, it is
important to consider that the hardware element of the
numerous sensors onboard “conventional”
contemporary ships has already exhausted any room
of further improvement; the use of advanced software
applications and utilization of AI tools to improve
more the capabilities of the various already existing
systems used to support the conduct of navigation on-
board those vessels could be the best way forward.
Coming to an end, another conclusion clearly standing
out is that building, improving and running AI
applications requires immense computing power; a
Cloud-based architecture can offer that in a flexible and
easy “scalable” environment (at relatively low-cost and
without huge initial investments), at least at the early
stages of development; off course, when the issue of
security will become the top priority, different
modalities should be created to ensure that there is no
opportunity to mess up with the AI application(s).
Last, but not least, effective management of “Big Data”
and deploying the right analytical tools should be
approached as a prerequisite for AI; for example, the
exploitation of Big Data and the role of certain software
applications in accessing and managing large volume
of information are key factors for improving (and even
optimizing) the conduct of operations and effective
management related activities. In turn, AI applications
can provide the solution to process unstructured data
and derive useful insights from it.
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