In the last quarter of 2018 and now in 2019, I did and am doing a traveling show throughout North America with BTN-Business Travel Trends and Forecasts on how AI, connectivity and mobility is being used and how it is progressing now and, in the future including the transition to autonomous vehicles.
The objective is to help the audience understand where AI is today and where it will lead (driverless cars).
For clarification AI is when a computer teaches itself known as self-learning. For example, when I was young I played chess against a computer. That computer was programed by a chess master. IBM built an AI computer which taught itself to play chess which was able to beat a chess master. That is AI.
Today in the US most car rental companies and limo are highly computerised but none are currently using AI. I understand the US rental car companies are in the planning stages to use AI. In Germany, Sixt has become the first to launch the use of AI.
Another term that going forward in the industry is telematics. Today telematics is an add on in most vehicles. In the future the OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer), the car manufacturers, will make telematics standard equipment.
Telematics is a tool or device to help monitor a vehicle in many ways. By combining a GPS system with on-board diagnostics it's possible to record — and map — exactly where a car is and how fast it's travelling and cross reference that with how a car is behaving internally. Telematics can be used to send both data and communications back and forth between a vehicle and a central management system using sensors in cars and a wireless network — 3G, 4G or the upcoming 5G network (almost a must for a fully autonomous vehicle network). For example, it will know the level of gas in the tank, if a tire is low, whether the oil needs changing, etc.
To help facilitate the information is geofencing. Geofencing is a location-based service in which an app or other software uses GPS, RFID, WiFi or cellular data to trigger a pre-programmed action when a mobile device or RFID tag enters or exits a virtual boundary set up around a geographical location, known as a geofence. Put simply, it is an invisible fence so that when a vehicle crosses a pre-set line, the telematics box will send data to a computer which can configure it for what it is programed for.
We also address disruption. Disruption has a multiple meaning. I have done several of these road shows, and some people don't like hearing what we are saying about disruption by the TNCs (transportation network companies) as they like the current service and the highly subsidised price and accept that the price is the lack of "Duty of Care".
We leave it in because it is very important for the corporate attendees to truly understand the liability to the company and long-term consequences of that disruption. The TNCs' entrance into the market worldwide is marked by their not abiding by the same laws to which taxis and limo companies must adhere and selling their services at a low, subsidised price. This is part of a duty of care discussion. In most countries TNCs do not do the same checks on drivers (fingerprint background checks, drug and alcohol testing, drivers training) as limo and taxi suppliers, not to mention their lack of standards for the age or condition of vehicles.
The positive element of the discussion is that the TNCs have created apps, a simple and seamless way for travellers to hail a ride with car and a driver. A new younger workforce likes the simplicity of the connection which these apps afford. This has pushed all suppliers to develop apps as it is now on the check list to be considered acceptable to be a preferred supplier.
The TNCs have been the disrupters for the last 10 years. Who will be the next disruptors? In the race for autonomous vehicles the OEMs are trying to build driverless cars and be a part or even own that market. Today, the telematics box gathers data and has a large amount of information which is very important to the suppliers' operations. For autonomous vehicles it is critical. Who owns the data? Today the OEM say they do. Will they sell the data and will they restrict who gets what data? Are they the next disruptors?
Autonomous vehicles are known as self-driving/driverless cars. These vehicles can sense their environment and navigating without human input. Autonomous cars combine a variety of techniques to perceive their surroundings, including radar, laser light, GPS, odometry, and computer vision. This is where AI comes into play as it is an integral part of a self-driving car, as will be 5G when it gets fully implemented.
According to a study by Intel, autonomous cars could represent a $7 trillion annual revenue stream. It says that the companies that don't prepare for self-driving risk failure or extinction. The report also finds that over just one decade over half a million lives could be saved by self-driving.
I am going to throw a wrench in all of this: it is an ugly word called legislation. From testing to driving, data privacy to liability there are laws in process that still need to be passed. These laws will range from local to regional to national and maybe even global.
The customer is changing. More people are living in urban areas and not buying cars because it is too hard to find places to park and too expensive to own and operate.
The mobility leaders of the future have a vision of providing you specific services powered by AI, such as a subscription service, rental cars, car sharing, ride-hailing, public transportation, autonomous rides, sustainable electric rides, limo services and maybe even a taxi if they are still around.
Now that is a fully functional app.