Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagAutonomous ships

3D illustration of an autonomous shipping vessel controlled remotely by artificial intelligence software managed by sensors on the shipping freight
3D illustration of an autonomous shipping vessel controlled remotely by artificial intelligence software managed by sensors on the shipping freight

Will Your Next Water Outing Be on a Crewless Watercraft?

Crewless ships get much less attention than driverless cars but they are much more obviously practical

The new robot Mayflower, scheduled to set out across the Atlantic from Portsmouth next spring (tracing the voyage of the historic Mayflower in 1620), is one of a growing number of autonomous vessels. It must make many decisions based on its programming. Like most crewless ships at present, the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS)’s mission is information, not transportation. That mission includes gathering data on plastic pollution and marine mammals, according to IBM, the technology partner of U.K.-based marine research organization, Promare. Here are some reasons autonomous (crewless) vessels offer advantages: ➤ With 70% of Earth’s surface covered by water, only 20% of which is mapped, there are too few humans trained to do the scientific, commercial, and patrol jobs. Much Read More ›