This content was originally posted at All About Trains as: “Commentary: Transportation And AI: Very Much Still Uncharted Territory”
On Fri., Oct. 9, 2026, I read on NBC Bay Area*, a news item where the transit agency BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit District) is considering incorporating the use of artificial intelligence. There was a survey given to staff. It revealed that over half of participants think AI could assist in improving operational efficiency and productivity. And because there was nothing in the article I could see that explained in what way or ways said operations efficiency and/or productivity could be enhanced, readers were left to fill in the blanks. As to what the survey size was, we don’t know that also.
Artificial intelligence is an area I have extreme interest in. Though my knowledge about AI is extremely limited.
I’m skeptical about AI’s widespread deployment. Without there being sufficient comprehensive safeguards in place to mitigate any number if not all potential risks, I have little faith that AI will do more good than harm.
Established, put-in-place regulatory protocols in my way of thinking, can provide, at least, some assurance that artificial intelligence operations don’t go rogue. On the other hand, minus AI-realm regulatory control protocol, expecting such assurance is an unrealistic expectation, in my view.
When I learned about the big U.S. tech firms agreeing to self-regulate, I thought ‘How is this a good thing?!’ I see this move as something akin to foxes guarding henhouses.
Back to the matter of improving operations efficiencies, I can see why companies are looking at AI as a beneficial tool to help, say, grow bottom lines. It’s understandable why companies would consider this. But the way I see it, AI in the workplace, I would hope, is a complement to and not a substitute for the invested-in human-capital work component.
Meanwhile, I got wind of the jobs picture: only 29,000 new jobs filled. I think these were September’s numbers. Unemployment figures, meanwhile, ticked up to something like 4.2 percent.
Granted, any workforce reduction at the very least means for the affected concern a lower employee payroll. Okay, I get that. But AI versus thinning ranks of workers? How does this kind of move benefit the affected displaced worker?
Numerous times I have heard from multiple so-called “experts” who proclaim AI will eliminate various types of jobs where workers are engaged in doing repetitive-type tasks, such as would be the case with an assembly-line worker, for example. And the argument in favor of always seems to be that displaced workers will find — or be able to create — new types of employment. There are no guarantees. Add to this that I’ve yet to see a single example where that scenario has actually played out.
Alongside all this I’ve been hearing how college students are learning how to adopt the use of AI as an aid to help them in their overall academic learning experiences, which, if true, could help better prepare graduates; this in-school preparation serving to help such better navigate what they are likely to face job-hunting-wise, post-graduation.
There’s a lot of good that could come with AI’s use. But the unknown unknown, what we don’t yet know about artificial intelligence, in other words, gives me pause and that which pertains to the transportation environment especially.
* “BART explores use of AI while weighing potential risks”. Record URL: https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/bart-artificial-intelligence-risks/4155183/
We’ll get straight to the point: The financial hardships that Daily Kos is facing this year are tough.
We continue to be paywall-free. We continue to be supported by our readers, not billionaires or corporations. But we need to bring in more revenue. We are leaning on our community more than ever to help make ends meet.
Source: www.dailykos.com
