Artificial intelligence (AI) can improve safety and efficiency while cutting overheads of transportation companies but comes with strings attached, ushering in cybersecurity threats and data exposure.
Organizations must fully understand both the positive potential and related risk before incorporating these new tools into their business, the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) said in its latest whitepaper.
Building off the functions of prediction, pattern recognition, and automation, these tools can support transportation companies with specific uses in such areas as route optimization, freight matching, autonomous driving, predictive maintenance, and demand prediction.
The NMFTA warned that the adoption of AI technologies comes with several risks and considerations.
The commercial uses of AI developed so rapidly and relied on such significant volumes of data inputs that many of these tools lack clarity regarding where data is stored and how it is used. This concern is particularly relevant when companies use third-party service providers whose AI tools are hosted outside of their customers’ systems.
Sensitive data
The risk that emerges from AI tools’ use of data becomes apparent when considering the types of data being processed. In terms of autonomous driving, or predictive maintenance functions, these systems may collect and store sensitive data about specific equipment, driver activities or habits, or broader company operations. With demand prediction and freight matching, however, collected data may begin to include sensitive information on customers.
Transport companies must ensure the security and privacy of their own data while also monitoring for potential exposure of customer and partner data, the whitepaper said. These data privacy concerns extend into the legal compliance space, with stark differences in the types of laws that individual U.S. states have implemented, along with discrepancies in federal legislation between the U.S. and Canada.
Cybersecurity concerns
Even for companies that choose not to integrate AI tools into their own systems, the advancement and ease of access to AI technologies have introduced significant cybersecurity concerns. These involve more sophisticated tactics and tools, compelling organizations to take a proactive approach against AI-related cyberattacks.
For those in the transportation sector, these developments ultimately mean that there are significant growth opportunities, but caution and consideration are critical to mitigate the risks and defend against the threats that are emerging.
AI promises to unlock many improvements to the trucking and supply chain industry, NMFTA said. Each of these technologies has inherent weaknesses, can be manipulated or misused, and poses additional risk to organizations if not properly and securely integrated into their operation.
