3 minute read

Kimberly Tam, Theme Lead for Marine and Maritime at The Alan Turing Institute, and Associate Professor in Cybersecurity at University of Plymouth

12 March 2026

The role of our oceans and the potential of AI

This year, Sir David Attenborough said, “After almost 100 years on the planet, I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea.”  He followed that up with “If we save the sea, we save our world,”1. For the sake of a sustainable planet, one that is dominated by our oceans, we need to use every tool we have to advance decarbonisation. This can be very direct methods of reducing the amount of emissions from shipping, to understanding/monitoring the health of seagrass that are critical for capturing carbon.  

Given how expansive our oceans are geographically, but also how expansive and complex the industries using our oceans are, one key tool in our toolbox is Artificial Intelligence (AI). With the vast amount of data we can collect and the need to study it quickly, it is critical that we are able to use AI to understand and address the challenges around decarbonisation of our oceans in a timely manner.  

That said, every solution often has a price. The cost of AI is still being studied, and a large part of that is the integrity and accuracy of its findings. This includes challenges like bias, hallucinations, but also intentional cyber-attacks. The other challenge is the carbon cost of AI itself.

A balanced approach to sustainable, secure marine AI

The synergy between the University of Plymouth and the data-centric engineering approach of the Alan Turing Institute’s Sustainability Mission (funded by Lloyd’s Register Foundation) is to conceive of AI solutions to save our oceans as a double-edged sword, looking at how it can both help and hurt. We are walking that fine line between driving development of AI for net-zero and identifying and mitigating the costs of those solutions more widely through raising awareness and research. 

In the last two years, I have looked at several areas where we can contribute to net-zero under the marine and maritime theme. These include but are not exclusive to offshore renewable energy and marine autonomy.

Early in the first year of my secondment, we asked what the risks of cyber-attacks are on remote offshore renewable wind farms. This resulted in a policy paper written with other Turing collaborators2. In 2025, a workshop with key stakeholders was held at the opening of the University of Plymouth’s new wind network testbed that can generate valuable data to understand how AI can be used to support this type of renewable energy, as well as a testbed to try AI solutions to protect the cyber security of these turbines3.

With AI being increasingly used for marine autonomy, many businesses are focusing on developing the hardware and are often using off the shelf AI tools for functions like object recognition. Working with the National Cyber Security Centre, we were concerned about the lack of cyber awareness in the lifecycle of AI for autonomy, which are considered key solutions for reducing shipping emissions. From this, a few research projects spanning 2023-2025 looked at the cyber-security of AI for marine autonomy, and how we can improve cyber security at all stages of development4,5.  

Looking ahead: inclusive futures for marine, maritime and AI

In addition to continuing with technical and policy research outlined above (plus other wonderful projects), in the following year for the marine and maritime theme, we hope to address some social challenges such as workforce diversity in marine/maritime/AI. The hope is to ensure everyone has equal voice in net-zero initiatives, and equal opportunity to heed Sir Attenborough’s call to save our oceans.

1 At 99, David Attenborough shares strongest message for the ocean - oceanographic
2 Enhancing the cyber resilience of offshore wind - The Alan Turing Institute
3 World-first facility enhances the UK’s energy and cyber resilience - University of Plymouth
4 SeXTANt (Secure X Trustworthy AI Navigation) - The Alan Turing Institute
5 SAIMAS – Secure AI within Marine Autonomy Systems - University of Plymouth

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