As the technology improves all around us, the dependence of humans on machines has increased over time admirably. The term'Artificial Intelligence' or AI was adopted first in the year 1956 by John McCarthy, an American Computer Scientist at the Darthmouth Conference. Since then, Artificial Intelligence has evolved over the years such that today, there are infinite uses of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning from manufacturing sectors to academics, healthcare, telecommunication and Academics. Before Learning about Autonomous Shipping, let us learn about the basics or the fundamental pillars that autonomous shipping is based on. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the simulation of human intelligence by machines.

Efforts are continuing to explore the use of automation, artificial intelligence, and image recognition to improve the navigation and safety of ship operations. Earlier this year, Japan's Mitsui O.S.K. Lines demonstrated its efforts are using augmented reality (AR) technology to enhance navigational awareness and now NYK announced that it has begun a trial on the system that can monitor the horizon to recognize dangerous objects that might be within a ship's range. NYK working with its strategic research and development subsidiary MTI Co. installed the Automatic Ship Target recognition System developed in Israel by Orca AI on one of NYK's vessels. The goal is to verify the detection capability and the contribution the system can make to the role of the lookout on a ship's bridge. Working with Orca, NYK also plans to improve the target detection algorithm through the use of data collection and machine learning on the Israeli company's servers.

Aberdeen-based marine and naval architectural consultancy, Tymor, is preparing for a new wave of autonomous and remote-controlled shipping by embedding artificial intelligence into its'Measurement of Stability in Service' system (MOSIS). The MOSIS system measures a vessel's vertical centre of gravity to provide vital feedback on vessel stability in variable conditions. Now Tymor has embarked on a three-phase programme over three years to enhance the system to meet the future needs of industry. The first phase is aimed at integrating MOSIS with other ship instrumentation and sensors, followed by a second phase to deliver stability information in real time, and finally an artificial intelligence application with be embedded to support autonomous shipping. Scottish Enterprise is supporting the project through their Innovation Grant programme and has committed part funding against the £100,000 cost of the first phase of system development, which includes an enhanced user interface and updated coding.

Autonomous shipping is believed to be the future of the maritime industry. Rolls-Royce began developing intelligent awareness systems back in 2015. As early as 2020, Rolls-Royce envisages a future of reduced crews. Rolls-Royce recently signed a new partnership with Google. It is an idea as disruptive as the smartphone, according to Rolls-Royce's marine team.

If you'd like to read more about the awesome potential of machine learning, check out the article in the link below: The era of globalization has brought about both advantages and disadvantages. With the variety of cutting-edge technology available at the UA Lighthouse, the company wants to develop best practices for all of its products that are made domestically and abroad. To hear more about what the industry is saying about the UK's recent decision, check out the article in the link below: In the past few years, there's been a greater and greater focus on autonomous cars and commercial vehicles. At the recent Autonomous Ship Technology Symposium 2016 in Amsterdam, Rolls Royce released a white paper that details how autonomous freight ships are technically and economically feasible.