How AI is transforming fleet insight

Unless you’ve lived under a rock for the past 12 months, you would have heard of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and its capabilities to bring robots to life, drive autonomous vehicles and turn data into insight. 

What’s been particularly interesting from a fleet perspective is seeing how generative AI models and applications, like ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bing, are influencing developments in fleet management applications and being used to garner information, find sources for insight, learn new skills, and accomplish various other tasks.

Connected transport and fleet solutions provider Geotab is taking its data experience to new heights by incorporating generative AI capabilities into its platform. The company has just launched a beta project introducing generative AI. 

With the beta launch of Project G, Geotab is empowering participating customers to effortlessly access on-demand insights on vehicle performance, efficiency, and sustainability.

Instant access to fleet insights

Fleet managers have long complained about the complexity and limitations of fleet reporting and the time and resources it takes to turn data into insight. Geotab’s Project G promises to simplify and speed up the process of accessing insights by harnessing the power of natural language models. It will also transform the process of analysing fleet data into a simple and intuitive experience, Geotab says. 

Essentially, Geotab provides an analytics digital assistant to pose questions through a chat interface linked to Geotab Data Connector. This enables them to receive immediate data-driven insights. From vehicle performance and idling times to fuel economy comparisons, vehicle usage, cost savings, and beyond. Project G is built on privacy-by-design principles and keeps all customer telematics data within Geotab’s environment, never shared with any Large Language Model (LLM), which sets it apart from ChatGPT, Bing and others that are not private.

“With Project G, we're taking a giant leap forward in demonstrating the impact of generative AI in the connected transportation landscape. We've long been recognised as leaders in data intelligence and AI, leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning models for years,” said Mike Branch, Vice President of Data & Analytics at Geotab. “This breadth of experience presents us with a unique opportunity to analyse vast amounts of fleet data, identify patterns, and generate invaluable recommendations to optimise operational efficiency and performance.”

We cannot ignore generative AI

Over the past year, Generative AI has become a significant area of focus, and organisations worldwide are exploring its potential to drive customer and performance business efficiencies. Geotab is leveraging this expertise with customers in the beta project. With over 55 billion data points processed daily across over 3.6 million connected vehicles, Geotab is noted for innovation and playing at the forefront of transformative technology. The company employs a large data science team with a global presence spanning 165 countries. Geotab has the expertise and scale necessary to train powerful AI models so that Project G can succeed. But the beta test will determine what is necessary to commercialise AI-based language models while maintaining data security and privacy.

Customers can ask questions like:

• Q: How much fuel did my fleet waste due to idling last month?

A: Total Idle Fuel Gallons = 392.43.

• Q: What results have transpired from the idling reduction pilot project started in March 2023?

A: Avg idling has decreased from 13.89 to 10.27 minutes.

• Q: How have EVs been adopted in my fleet over the last year?

A: There were 37 EVs added. Here they are broken down by month.

• Q: Provide me the list of 10 vehicles with the worst fuel economy over the past month, as defined as lower miles per gallon.

A: 

“The beta project is an exciting collaboration with select customers. We can align real-world requirements and challenges with data science expertise to learn, adapt and evolve capabilities. The possibilities are limitless, and we're committed to delivering cutting-edge solutions that make data easily accessible for our customers,” added Branch. For more information, visit http://www.geotab.com/uk/project-g.

Project G is available globally and exclusively accessible to Geotab customers who subscribe to Geotab Data Connector. More information is available here, where customers can register to join the waitlist. 

Undoubtedly, AI is a transformative invention, and generative language models, in particular, are stirring conversation in the fleet sector (positive and negative). People are pre-programmed to be suspicious of change or sceptical of anything new and untested. It’s our natural bias. That said, when companies as big and established as Geotab start developing solutions harnessing the power of these new innovations, we know it’s time to pay attention. 

Images: Geotab