Artificial Intelligence in Transportation
By: Carlos Villegas
Tags: Deep Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Autonomous Cars, Transportation

The uses of artificial intelligence in transportation today go beyond autonomous cars or the technology that is included in each vehicle.

There are uses of artificial intelligence that are able to determine the influx of traffic, the times of traffic light crossings and even for the projection of works that could improve the urban use of public roads.

However, not everything is good in the development of artificial intelligence in transport, today the application of artificial intelligence in any of the elements that surround the vehicles is very high.

Access for government, private industry or even individuals to artificial intelligence technology has a very high entry barrier, this being mainly the price.

It is important to note that previously it was thought that government regulations or regulations focused on competitiveness were going to be the great brake on the revolution of artificial intelligence in transport, however, while the legislation is adapting, costs do not fall at the same rate as the legal barriers to implementing artificial intelligence.

Even at this point that we have not talked about human talent, we must talk about cybersecurity infrastructure, data privacy and protection against attacks, elements on which any company that has the implementation of artificial intelligence in the future should spend.

Due to the elements that facilitate and hinder the introduction of artificial intelligence in transport, it is quite safe to say that of the first industries that will implement artificial intelligence, more specifically, autonomous cars is the trucking industry.

One might think that due to the size the cost could be higher, it would not be wrong, however the immediate risk is lower.

One of the fixed costs that the transport industry has is the payroll of their drivers, and the risk they can assume is equal or less by implementing intelligence artificial, since what is transported are not human beings and the calculated risk between a problem with artificial intelligence and the accidents that usually happen in freight transport is virtually the same.

In the background, and with a little more speculation, you can think about public transport and private transport (Uber, Lyft, Taxis).

Regarding this point, the entry barrier is on both sides, from the point of view of regulation for safety and competitiveness, as well as the costs that can be incurred in being able to implement this technology.

Certain places in the world, where this technology is more advanced, have carried out various studies and tests, making it possible in the future that all private transport can be controlled by artificial intelligence, this could have different advantages, from a decrease in traffic, in its correct application a decrease in car accidents and above all an improvement in carbon emissions.

The future is bright when we talk about artificial intelligence, especially when we include transport in the mix, however we always have to keep in mind those barriers that we face , government regulation and high costs for the widespread implementation of this technology.