DHL teams up with IBM for report on AI in logistics

DHL and technology company IBM have released a report on the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) in logistics.

According to the report, which examines use cases for AI within the industry, its use "has the potential to significantly augment human capabilities."

Suggested uses for AI include back office automation, predictive operations and "insights" through the use of big data, and richer customer experiences through conversational engagement. In addition to aiding the tasks of the human workforce, it could take over the most routine jobs and free up employees for “more meaningful and value-added work”.

(Image credit: Deutsche Post DHL Group / IBM)

DHL suggests that the logistics industry currently operates from a "reactive" model, responding to changes after they happen, rather than predicting their approach.

"Today’s current technology, business, and societal conditions favour a paradigm shift to proactive and predictive logistics operations more than any previous time in history," Matthias Heutger, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Innovation at DHL, said in the press release.

"As the technological progress in the field of AI is proceeding at great pace, we see it as our duty to explore, together with our customers and employees, how AI will shape the logistics industry’s future."

(Source: Deutsche Post DHL Group)