Some years ago, I think it was a Popular Science Magazine, had on it’s cover a Submarine Freighter. Today I would imagine it as a huge torpedo that would contain specialized manifest. Most likely nuke propulsion. And would be autonomous.
The theory then was that the deeper under water the submersible operates the faster it can travel. It wouldn’t be subject to high seas, winds, or ice.
Imagine such a ship operating without a crew ? It may fill a niche for certain types of freight where accelerated shipping would be highly profitable. Still not as fast of shipment as requiring Air Freight.
That is if you can wrap your head around an autonomous nuke freighter sub relying on AI. .
I agree that putting nuke power in the hands of Artificial Intelligence would be viewed as pure madness by anyone with some sense. Then it wasn’t too long ago that autonomous vehicles would have been viewed the same. But here we are.
The 20th Century saw automation replaced men . The 21st Century has Artificial Intelligence slated as the next big thing, to replace men’s minds. The combination of these two would be pure bliss for the Wall Street crew whose eyes have pupils that look like this “$”.
As for that Submarine Freighter…sounds incredible ?
Imagine going to a Motocross where factory motorcycles race against each other without human riders ?
Sooner or later, someone will conclude that it would be safer to have Nuke Power Plants attended by Artificial Intelligence Robots and build
examples as proof of concept.
And yes, I can imagine some accidents taking place if it were attempted.
Interesting article. I like and agree with what the Dr is saying.
You have to admire the ideals those like Dr.Papaioannou advocate for
but at the same time you can’t slip into the abyss of naivety. If something looks like a highly profitable industry, “gold fever” will almost certainly take precedent But in economics, Gresham’s Law states that bad money will ultimately drive out good money.
Back during the Holidays I watched this Youtube video regarding the tall ships of the 1800’s and the coming of iron hulled steam ships and the difference it made in sailing, sailing men’s lives, and the economics of transportation. The iron steam ships were the bad money and you have to think about what was the good money of the time. I invite anyone to kick back for about an hour and watch the story and see what you think. Since the post Korean war automation has been a sweetheart of corporate industry and the investing sector while depersonalizing the workplace and eroding those conditions that
Dr.Papaioannou endorses. I feel for those University Presidents who can only point at the changes that they hope can be avoided, but as always they will continue to have their Ivy Halls and Campus no matter what happens to the world of working men at the hand of the business class. .
Yes, I can see that and with good reason. The USA already is a huge exporter of agricultural products. It is thought that by 2050 there will be a 60% increase in what we are already exporting. At this time US Agriculture feeds a huge percentage of the worlds population.
The present world population is already in the mid 7 billion and will soon reach 8 billion. By 2050 it is believed to reach 9.7 billion. It follows that
more shipping & manpower will be necessary for the logistics of supplying those countries the US exports to. The map below shows the scale of our consuming trade partners.
And it should be remembered that agriculture will also be utilizing new production techniques with automation and AI while this is taking place.
But like the video shows with the emerging of steamers in the era of tall ships, there were some areas where the two technologies worked together. Autonomous AI submarine freight shipping will still require the human element for maintenance, landing in port, freight handling, etc.
It will be similar to agricultural tech advancements in agribusiness known as “Precision Farming”.
US Sec of Agriculture Perdue made this remark about this emerging field:
It’s using less resources, less inputs, less water, less fertilizer, less insecticides, less pesticides in order to produce a better, healthier, more wholesome crop.
It may follow that the shipping industry will innovate new tech in automation and AI to serve various niches that may arise in this time.
Perhaps for fresh and perishable Agricultural goods.
This will come under the heading of break-thru concepts and must have products. Possibly where one facilitates the delivery of the other.
I found the August 1990 Popular Mechanics cover that featured the submarine freighter I spoke of earlier.
Even if this weren’t operated as an autonomous AI vehicle there have been proposals for maned submarine propulsion units for submersible freight carrying modules. They would ride piggy back over the freight.
Just some illustrations of what I’m talking about. Of course in WW1 the Germans had a submarine freighter, The Deutschland" in operation.
Meh. What about just looking out the window? iPads and 360 degree cameras with microphones that can triangulate a targets position with algorithms sounds nice until it doesn’t work and your now trained to go to the iPad for all of your information. Ask the navies of the world how all that technological wizardry is working out for them.
Sounds like more alarms going off in the wheelhouse to alert you to things you’ve been tracking for thirty minutes already. No thanks
Those Extra Large Autonomous Submarines I spoke of ?
Boeing has just received a 43 Million Dollar Contract to begin building them for the USN. They will be utility vessels and I’m waiting for follow up stories to see if they will be freight carrying.
