A Recent Review on Artificial Intelligence in Ports

Ports are investing significantly in artificial intelligence (AI). However, research remains nascent and fragmented in this area, making it complex to develop integrated plans that leverage on data. This paper presents a systematic literature review of 28 recent publications that examine the value of AI in port's digital and green transformation. The work was conducted within the scope of a multiyear investment project on the transformation of ports and logistics. The taxonomy of publications outlines the main pillars of AI application in ports: operation efficiency, support and maintenance, scheduling and forecasting capacity, environmental policies, and surveillance and human safety. Our study reveals an increase in the scale of AI adoption, including the orchestration of seaport-dry operations, multimodal transportation integration, and analysis of environmental impacts. Our contribution includes near-term use cases and guidelines to address the challenges of AI adoption in mission-critical, large-scale logistics infrastructures while promoting sustainablility.