AI for Autonomous Ships:Challenges in Design and Validation

The development of several key elements in autonomous shipping, such as situational awareness systems and autonomous navigational decision-making, are likely to be based on various artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The emergence of these new technologies will bring along new challenges for all stakeholders involved in their development and approval. Several key challenges in different development phases will be presented with selected new approaches proposed to support the development activities. Machine learning technologies, for example, impose challenges regarding data collection, transfer and processing. The design, training and validation, as well as transparency of such systems raise further questions. In validation, the lack of prescriptive standards further complicates the design and approval process. Additionally, when in operation, the AI technologies may introduce new kinds of risks and security vulnerabilities