How Artificial Intelligence could shape the mobility industry for the better

Looking at the status quo on how Artificial Intelligence (AI) impacts mobility for the better shows us the obvious future: Of course, autonomous driving and AI-based driver assistant systems will reduce more and more crashes and save human lives.

Optimized, personalized routing and smart traffic light systems will lower travel time and, therewith, CO2 emissions. However, and for sure, the future will not be a linear prediction of the status quo.

So, in order to make a real impact on mobility through AI, we must seek for the non-obvious in the obvious. But what does that mean, exactly?

Look right when everybody is looking left.

Answering this question demands a non-biased perspective. There is still the belief that innovation is just about ideas. But true innovation is about solving problems.

Hence, the question shouldn’t be: “How will AI shape mobility for the better?” It should be: “Which problems is the mobility industry facing that could be solved by the power of AI?”

Through this perspective, AI is seen as a tool. One is not asking how hammers and nails can build better houses. Instead, one asks what tools are needed to build a better house.

Fortunately, the AI toolbox is growing on a fast scale, which makes problem solving much easier.

Therefore, asking the right and non-obvious questions and following the rule of looking right when everybody is looking left will bring great solutions to meaningful identified problems — problems that are impacted by the immersive toolbox of AI.

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s, there are few,” according to the famous quote by Zen Buddhist monk, Shunryu Suzuki.

To get an answer to these crucial questions and problems, our company builder unit at Porsche Digital, called “Forward31”, follows this principle.

We approach problems with a beginner’s mind and among other things, we create ventures beyond the core mobility business.

We are on a mission to find various opportunity sectors and to tackle untapped business – in areas like sustainability, people on the move or personal growth to create a better future.

Therefore, we also make progressive use of the tools AI offers now and will offer in future.

Dream big

Acting in terms of Ferdinand Porsche and following his famous quote “I couldn’t find the sports car of my dreams, so I decided to build it myself” will shape the mobility industry for the better in this new age of technology. He was a dedicated engineer by heart and he perfectly knew how to use his tools to pursue his dream more than 70 years ago.

The only thing that has changed today is the toolbox, as software comes to our world of hardware and will bring new opportunities.

AI for a better future

Looking behind the obvious can open up a new perspective on how the future could look. Nobody can predict it, but it will provide inspiration and new problem statements to solve.

Perhaps cars will be part of a decentralized, interconnected, self-sustaining, green city ecosystem where an explosion of real-time, dynamic data has to be handled by AI.

Complexity of vehicles will continue growing to the point where factories and also the supply chain are branded as sustainable and CO2 neutral. Big data and AI are monitoring and optimizing this big network.

We are looking and will look into new ways of mobility and strive to make it more efficient, safer, and sustainable.

AI will help in several aspects, like creating the optimal structure of the mobility device, handling the best energy flow or simulating future mobility concepts such as Fly-as-a-service concepts.

By tackling these and further unknown challenges, a beginner’s mind will always be helpful. Let’s build the future we are dreaming of.