SmartWitness, a telematics provider, has expanded its artificial intelligence capabilities with Artificial Intelligence Driving Events (AIDE), a cloud-based add-on to its SmartAPI software platform that reduces false alerts as much as tenfold by applying a wide range of contextual factors to video captured by system cameras. This decrease in false positives limits the number of events requiring manual review by fleet managers, avoids unnecessary driver coaching sessions, and eliminates driver frustration associated with erroneous reports of risky driving behavior.

AIDE is now included with all SmartWitness deployments at no additional cost and with no need to replace cameras already in the field since all AI processing is performed in the cloud rather than on the camera. This cloud-based strategy also reduces the cost and size of system cameras compared to solutions where all AI processing happens at the edge only, requiring processing power be built into the hardware. Fleets not only save on new deployments but also achieve long-term savings by minimizing the need to upgrade cameras to take advantage of new AI capabilities.

AIDE’s ability to reduce false positives up to 10 times was verified in a pilot involving more than 10,000 trucks. That performance is directly related to the number of variables used in analyzing events flagged in the SmartWitness system. AIDE not only compares each event to benchmarks of normal driving behavior established through machine learning analysis of hundreds of thousands of driving events and associated reactions, but also applies information about vehicle mass, speed, and direction along with speed limit, road formation, and many other road conditions.

With its comprehensive contextual analysis, AIDE can distinguish between normal and aggressive driving behavior as well as between a pothole and a collision, a sharp curve and a collision avoidance maneuver, an expected acceleration and an unsafe speed increase, or braking required for downhill driving and harsh braking suggesting unsafe vehicle operation. It then filters out events that need no investigation or intervention to ensure fleet safety, minimizing time spent on reviewing non-critical incidents.

In addition to providing cost and size advantages for fleets, AIDE’s low-edge, high-cloud approach offers multiple deployment and business advantages for telematics service providers and resellers. The lower costs help reduce barriers to purchase for new customers and avoid conflict with existing accounts over upgrade expenses; eliminating the need for hardware replacement trims labor costs; and the shortened review process provided by removing false alerts helps increase customer satisfaction and retention.

AIDE is backward-compatible with all SmartWitness cameras and works with any telematics system.