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t1_jaa65ix wrote

Auto pilot has been a thing on ships for a long time. Going in and out of port will still need people to do many tasks like handling the morning lines and avoiding debris

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t1_jad2yfp wrote

>handling the mooring lines and avoiding debris

Two thoughts here:

  1. surely that's a solvable computer/robotics problem

  2. without solving the software side, you still don't need anyone on the ship. Just plunk them down at a control panel with some big monitors in port.

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OP t1_ja9z83l wrote

Ships and ports are ripe for operation without humans — but only if the maritime industry can work through the practical, legal and economic implications first.

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t1_jabzsh9 wrote

Everything is ripe for automation and will be automated regardless of how much people will protest.

We're living through the 4th industrial revolution. It'll make even the first industrial revolution look minor in comparison. Look up automated factories in China on YT but it won't just be factories. Programming, Graphic design stuff like that will also be automated.

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t1_jaamrxg wrote

Any improvement from ships that are killing sea life and dumping plastic.

No more industrial fishing.

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t1_jaacuco wrote

All things considered, how could autonomous ships do worse than they do now?

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t1_jaag27g wrote

Stowaways for one.

It’s still a common occurrence and causes a huge hassle for the ship with CBP.

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t1_jadh1ak wrote

These articles about ships being automated are just dumb. Driving the ship isn't the hard part. The maintenance is the hard part. You can reduce the watch to just 3 people. It should be more than 3. They should do almost nothing but they should be there. The maintenance staff is vital to keeping these ships operating in the long term.

We should do a better job of building things on the continents they're used on.

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