AI in transportation and home/service robots

Most people are not very familiar with the concept of artificial intelligence, but
that certainly will change very soon because AI, from SIRI to self-driving cars, is a
technology that is transforming every way of life.

Intelligence is tricky to define, but we’ll try to explain it to you. First of all, we
can typically define AI in two categories: strong AI and weak AI

Strong AI is a machine that can solve problems it’s never been trained to work
on — much like a human can. This is the kind of AI we see in movies and soon we will
see it in real life too.
The main problem of this type of AI is that experts don’t actually know how
powerful these machines can be and that’s why some people believe strong AI research
should be limited, due to the potential risks of creating a powerful AI without
appropriate boundaries.
Now Weak AI operates within a limited context and is a simulation of human
intelligence applied to a certain task or problem (like driving a car). It focuses on
performing a single task extremely well and besides it may seem intelligent, it operates
under a very very limited range of information. Some examples of weak AI are: Siri,
Alexa and other smart assistants, self-driving cars and google search.

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Broadly speaking, AI systems can perform tasks commonly associated with

human cognitive functions — such as playing games and writing a speech.

Ai in transportation

Artificial intelligence in the transportation sector is booming right now, and it’s only getting

bigger. AI has already been implemented in many industries, including finance, healthcare, and

manufacturing. Now, it’s making its way into the world of transportation.

According to a report, global AI in the transportation market is projected to reach $3.5 billion

by 2023, enabling an impressive growth rate of 16.5%.

We’ll talk about what AI in transportation really entails and some key challenges that

organizations face when implementing AI into their systems. Plus, we will discuss how AI is

being used in different parts of the transport industry and what we can expect from AI going

forward.

The compatibility of AI to transportation applications is a somewhat natural fit. Yet, as is the

case with AI in many other industries, the adoption of these applications currently varies across

industries and geographies.

This effectively translates to the fact that AI application in transport can paradoxically be both

complicated and straightforward, implausible and probable, distant and just-around-the-corner,

based on environment and geographical factors.

Artificial intelligence has also brought the development of self-driving cars that are able to
detect traffic. Self-driving cars will reduce traffic accidents as the AI-equipped vehicle has the
ability to detect pedestrian and cyclists paths. This by far increases transportation safety.
Artificial intelligence can be used to reduce the traffic congestion on roads resulting in a smooth
traffic flow, with the help of AI traffic management systems traffic is used by many smart cities
around the world to control traffic flow also with the aid of AI motorists can be warned about
dangerous spots in a certain road or route. Security threats and any unforeseen occurrences in
traffic can also be predicted by AI.
Artificial intelligence in transportation is in its infancy stage and holds great potential in
revolutionizing the sector. Trust is a factor that has affected the speed of adoption of AI in this
area. Lack of trust is further aggravated by the lack of proper regulation certification and
standardization of AI tools in the transportation sector. However, once public policy on AI has
fully matured, adoption of AI in transport will follow since safety will be assured and
consequently trust will be restored.

Home robots
Within a decade, around 39% of the time spent on housework and caring for loved ones
could be automated, experts say.
Home robots have existed since the 1990s, at the beginning especially in
America. They are currently used for helping humans with many kinds of domestic
chores, such as: cleaning (vacuum cleaning, floor cleaning, pool cleaning and window
cleaning), entertainment (toys and hobby robots) and domestic security and surveillance
(machine vision, motion detection).

Over the past decade, there have been some improvements in cleaning robot
capabilities. OEMs are increasingly looking to adopt AI technologies, especially for
vacuum cleaning, floor cleaning, and lawn mowing chores.
 The main features of a robotic vacuum cleaner are environment mapping, anti-
drop, obstacle climbing and auto-recharge. Technically speaking, it uses simultaneous
localization and mapping (SLAM) using the laser distance sensor (LDS) on the top of
its body, its bumpers, and an infrared sensor to detect and avoid obstacles in its path.

Service robots
Would you allow a humanoid robot to greet a paying guest at your hotel or serve
you food? There is no doubt that AI will create both challenges and opportunities for the
industry.
By allowing robots to perform repetitive human tasks, AI is redesigning
the customer experience.