AI in Supply Chain: Cutting Through the Hype and Unlocking Real Value – Part 2

The ‘Safety’ of Self-Driving Vehicles

AI in supply chains today is akin to the development of autonomous vehicles, which came to prominence in the 2010s alongside an increasing popularity in AI-powered robotics and drones. While many autonomous vehicle subsystems—such as lane-keeping assist and adaptive cruise control—have become highly advanced, fully autonomous cars are still not practical in everyday traffic.

A study of 2,100 automation-related crashes and 35,113 human-driven vehicle crashes found that, across comparable scenarios, ADS (Automated Driving System) equipped vehicles generally had a lower chance of crash occurrence than human-driven vehicles, but there were two notable exceptions: under dawn/dusk conditions, ADS crash odds were reported as 5.25 times higher, and under turning conditions, 1.98 times higher than human-driven vehicles in similar matched scenarios.

Likewise, in supply chains, AI can enhance specific functions like demand forecasting and route optimisation, but it isn’t ready to replace human planners. Instead, businesses should focus on augmenting human decision-making with AI rather than attempting full automation.

Tim Gray, Managing Director, Prophit Systems.