Fully Autonomous Ship - Will AI Make “Machine Errors” or Will They Human Errors in a New Form?

It is known that the cause of most accidents and incidents at sea is, to one degree or another, either directly or indirectly, the so-called human factor. During the last years, more and more people have started to look towards solutions that can significantly reduce or even eliminate the negative consequences of human characteristics; one such solution is believed to be the partial or complete replacement of humans on board with “smart” technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI). Here, however, two questions arise: the first - will the complete exclusion of people from the game can bring the desired result and is it even possible? And the second - can “smart” machines make their own, specific, so-called machine errors, and should these machine errors be preferred to human errors, or can their consequences be as severe as those caused by humans? The author of the paper tries to discuss the raised questions, looking for answers, even in a preliminary and imperfect form.