AI in transportation: USDOT seeks input on potential applications
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The U.S. Department of Transportation's Infrastructure Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-I) is keeping its eye firmly on the impact AI could have on transportation. Warren Buffett recently likened this technology to nuclear weapons.
USDOT published a Request for Information (RFI) on AI in the Federal Register earlier this month. We are looking for information about the potential applications of AI in transportation and the challenges and opportunities it may create. The ministry is seeking opinions from a wide range of stakeholders. Comments must be received by he July 2nd.
The RFI is in response to President Joe Biden's October 2023 executive order entitled “Developing and Using Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence.”
USDOT says ARPA-I is an agency created by Congress “to support the development of science and technology solutions that overcome long-term challenges and advance the cutting edge of America's transportation infrastructure.”
“Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) offer significant potential benefits and risks and have the potential to transform American society with profound implications for safety, access, equity, and resilience in the transportation sector. “There are,” the RFI states. “Nearly every aspect of transportation and mobility, from the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of physical infrastructure systems to the operation of the digital infrastructure that supports and enables the movement of people and goods, will be influenced by the adoption of AI. More likely to be affected by tools and applications.
“Beyond the direct impact of the technology itself, AI has the potential to reshape the way individuals, communities, businesses, governments, and other users interact with transportation networks in ways that are difficult to predict.”
According to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, the Biden executive order also requires AI developers and all U.S. government departments to ensure that AI development is safe, secure, and reliable. This is also the goal of the Ministry's newly established Transportation Transformation Advisory Committee (TTAC).
According to PropertyCasualty360, Buffett, CEO and chairman of GEICO's parent company Berkshire Hathaway, said at the company's annual meeting that generative AI could do more harm than good to society as a whole.
“If it's used in a social direction, it's a huge benefit to society, but when you've used two atomic bombs in the world, I don't see how you can be sure that that actually happened.” “He knew he wasn't building something that could later destroy the world in World War II,” Buffett said, according to PropertyCasualty360.
Although Buffett said he didn't know much about AI, he did warn about the reality of cyber threats to individuals and businesses through technology, such as facial and voice cloning, according to the article. He had first-hand experience with virtual cloning, where a very convincing persona of himself was created.
While taking over job responsibilities may be seen as a positive outcome of AI, Buffett said that mindset could change.
“That could create a tremendous amount of leisure time,” Buffett said, according to the article. “Now, what the world does with its leisure time is another matter… That’s what makes the world a genie… We might wish we hadn’t seen that genie. Or maybe the genie is great. I might do that.”
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