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IBM’s AI bait into the Atlantic

 


In 1620, an English ship named ‘Mayflower’ transported a group of English families known today as the Pilgrims to the New World. After a voyage of 10 weeks, 120 passengers and 30 crew members anchored near the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The pilgrims had left the English land to separate themselves from the Church of England, as due to its Roman Catholic past the church resisted reformation. They believed it was beyond redemption, which forced them to pray in private.

Plymouth Colony was not the first successful English colony in the New World nor was it the first ship to set sail across the Atlantic to North America. Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony became central to the popular origin narrative of the United States through the signing of the Mayflower Compact, a document that agreed on a form of representational government, and the celebration of the first Thanksgiving. 

To mark the 400th anniversary of the historic journey of the vessel, IBM and marine research organization ProMare developed Mayflower400, an AI and solar-powered marine research vessel, which was dispatched into the waters off the coast of Plymouth, England in the Spring of 2021. A 49-foot autonomous boat provides a flexible, cost-effective, and safe option for gathering critical data about the ocean. Al ships can help collect marine life data from places that are dangerous for humans to travel or inaccessible. Ships navigated by ‘AI captains’ are cost-effective and flexible too as they involve no human on board. 

IBM is using this project to test its new AI capabilities and the primary motive of saving marine life is cherry on the top for them. This project may also help IBM to cover the failure of over-ambitious Watson Health. IBM is looking to sell its Watson Health unit because it is not profitable, despite bringing in $1 billion annually in revenue as reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Both the ships, whether it being the one navigated by AI captain or the one which voyaged with 150 human lives on board, began sailing on waters of hope. MAS400 is carrying the hopes of not only IBM or ProMare but of many oceanic creatures and People trying hard to save them. Ocean has more than half of all life on Earth and 97percent of its water. It regulates the Earth’s climate by sinking excess heat and carbon. The damage done to the ocean will directly affect the well-being of this planet. 

A study done by the University of Georgia indicates that 18 billion pounds of plastic trash winds up in our oceans each year. This is one among the thousand reasons for the depletion of marine life and oceans. If we want to protect them, we should start acting now. But how? Stop using plastic? Or stop any further oil spills? The answer lies within the biggest weapon of this generation, which is ‘data’.

Data will help us to understand the situation better and make necessary changes to the current practices. MAS400 is built not only to sail autonomously but also to collect and record data on its journey. This is a mere start to a big revolution, both in AI and preserving our oceans. As I said earlier MAS400 is sailing on the water of hopes for a better future. 

To end this on a happy note, let me tell you IBM is performing outstanding under Mr. Arvind Krishna who is the current CEO of the company. IBM has announced recently to split into two companies, IBM and Kyndryl. Big Blue is currently the leader in the enterprise private cloud market and also a global leader in blockchain technology. 

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