Artificial Intelligence to thrive in logistics according to DHL and IBM

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will see the global logistics industry shift its operating model from being reactive to being proactive and predictive. Big Data, self-learning systems and the monitoring of social media will enable logistics providers to be better prepared for rapid consumer demand, such as that which saw an estimated 38,000 tonnes of fidget spinners transported by air last year. A joint report by DHL and IBM, Artificial Intelligence in Logistics, has evaluated the potential of AI and shown how it can to transform the logistics industry, giving rise to a "new class of intelligent logistics assets and operational paradigms". While AI is already established in the consumer arena, as demonstrated by the rapid growth of voice assistant applications, DHL and IBM found that AI technologies are "maturing at great pace," allowing for additional applications for the logistics industry. "Today's current technology, business, and societal conditions favour a paradigm shift to proactive and predictive logistics operations more than any previous time in history" explained Matthias Heutger, senior vice president and global head of innovation at DHL. "As the technological progress in the field of AI is proceeding at great pace, we see it as our duty to explore, together with our customers and employees, how AI will shape the logistics industry's future."