Ride-hailing service provider Uber is all set to become more efficient with the deployment of artificial intelligence. With every sector of the tech industry going AI, the transport giant has also established a laboratory for more advanced research and experiments.
Uber To Have a New Ai Division
Uber will have new laboratory that will help the company to develop new trends by inventing new technologies in its division. There will be trained individuals to teach computers to function the way humans think. The company confirmed taking over New York-based AI startup Geometric Intelligence, which was established by academicians.
Uber reportedly plans to set up its AI lab in San Francisco. The ride-sharing service provider said that it will employ around 15 persons from the startup and shift them there. They will be the ones who will work in finding out the strategies that could make the transport ace even better and more efficient. The artificial intelligence technique will likely provide a better understanding of more estimated rider locations and travel time. Hence, the ride-hailing service would be able to plan strategies accordingly, Wall Street Journal reported.
Uber AI Lab's Focus
The major focus of the AI labs and professionals at Uber will to have software applications using which self-driving sedan s could be developed. Geometric Intelligence's co-founder Gary Marcus said that "driverless cars" will be the center of "what we do" at the Ai division of the ride-sharing service provider.
Marcus also told the BBC that the team will aim at improving traffic predictions besides estimating the areas where Uber gets more riders. The AI division will have its focus from smaller objectives to larger future goals, including the creation of flying cars. Uber chief product officer Jeff Holden said that the company faced lots of losses worth over $2 billion in 2015. He added that those were not a serious concern for the firm as it wwas expected to be covered in 2016.
"We're actually in very good shape," the Uber officer told the media outlet. "Those sorts of things look bad from the outside."
