(ECNS) -- China State Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC), the world’s largest shipbuilder, is exploring artificial intelligence to automate and optimize ship design, according to Gu Yiqing, deputy chief engineer of its Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute.
Speaking at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Gu said China’s extensive shipbuilding operations provide a major data advantage for AI training.
She noted that consolidating and preparing these data remains a key challenge, but said AI-assisted ship design could become widely adopted once breakthroughs are achieved. AI could help organize design drawings and documents, build semantic databases and improve design efficiency and outcomes, she said.
Engineers at the CSSC subsidiary have begun training small-scale models to understand design codes, interpret specifications and extract information from blueprints, the technologist said, adding that these models must be refined before being integrated into larger systems.
AI is already being used to compare design standards and verify parameters. However, Gu stressed that experts must validate all AI-generated results and that full reliance on AI is not yet feasible. She added that major shipbuilding countries are at a similar early stage.
Gu led the design of the Dazhi, the world’s first smart ship, and served as chief system architect for the Ningyuan Diankun, the world’s largest pure-electric autonomous container ship. CSSC’s forum on maritime AI attracted more than 200 participants.
(By Intern Lin Qiaochu, Zhang Dongfang)
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