With all the talk of Artificial Intelligence taking over jobs, painting a picture of a future where robots rule and humankind has been relegated to the spare parts bin, it was refreshing to read that Ford has recently re-hired human engineers after AI systems designed to replace them, failed to match quality checks.
In June last year, Ford boss Jim Farley was quoted as saying “AI will leave a lot of white collar people behind and in October, COO Kumar Galhotra, announced that AI was being deployed across the ‘entire industrial system’.
This included the introduction of 900 AI-powered cameras in factories to detect quality issues and help mitigate supply disruptions.
However, Ford has since re-hired more than 300 veteran quality inspectors after the AI-driven checks failed to live up to expectations. These experienced operators have been tasked with training the systems as well as mentoring younger employees.
This re-adjustment of human and AI resources at Ford comes at a time when many businesses, including in the glazing sector, may be looking at digital and AI powered solutions to operate more efficiently, in the office and on the factory floor.
And there are already some success stories. Glass Futures, for example, has installed an AI-driven ‘digital twin’ of its glass furnace at St Helens. By accurately simulating conditions in the furnace, it can reportedly process over 11,000 calculations at once to work out how to make new types of glass in a virtual environment.
It’s an exciting use of the technology, but should all business owners in our industry be rushing out to adopt AI, or – as demonstrated by Ford – is it more sensible to introduce artificial intelligence gradually?
According to a survey of delegates at the recent National Glazing Association’s GFAB event in Chicago, 62% cited the reliability and accuracy of AI as a primary concern. A further 29% flagged data security – clearly, glass businesses are wary of AI, and I wouldn’t be surprised if those figures were reflected elsewhere in the supply chain.
Elton Boocock, founder of Thinkivity, which provides AI consultancy and training exclusively for the UK glazing industry, says that people ‘are either scared of AI, or they are getting high on it’.
He adds that a planned approach to AI is key and that the businesses that will benefit most from it are the ones who’ve identified a genuine challenge and then asked whether AI is the right fix.
You can read more from Elton in the July issue of Glass Times. And in the meantime, if your business has adopted AI then we’d love to hear from you. Is it making things better or is introducing more problems than it’s worth?
You can email me at [email protected]
AI – for better or worse?
With all the talk of Artificial Intelligence taking over jobs, painting a picture of a future where robots rule and humankind has been relegated to the spare parts bin, it was refreshing to read that Ford has recently re-hired human engineers after AI systems designed to replace them, failed to match quality checks.
In June last year, Ford boss Jim Farley was quoted as saying “AI will leave a lot of white collar people behind and in October, COO Kumar Galhotra, announced that AI was being deployed across the ‘entire industrial system’.
This included the introduction of 900 AI-powered cameras in factories to detect quality issues and help mitigate supply disruptions.
However, Ford has since re-hired more than 300 veteran quality inspectors after the AI-driven checks failed to live up to expectations. These experienced operators have been tasked with training the systems as well as mentoring younger employees.
This re-adjustment of human and AI resources at Ford comes at a time when many businesses, including in the glazing sector, may be looking at digital and AI powered solutions to operate more efficiently, in the office and on the factory floor.
And there are already some success stories. Glass Futures, for example, has installed an AI-driven ‘digital twin’ of its glass furnace at St Helens. By accurately simulating conditions in the furnace, it can reportedly process over 11,000 calculations at once to work out how to make new types of glass in a virtual environment.
It’s an exciting use of the technology, but should all business owners in our industry be rushing out to adopt AI, or – as demonstrated by Ford – is it more sensible to introduce artificial intelligence gradually?
According to a survey of delegates at the recent National Glazing Association’s GFAB event in Chicago, 62% cited the reliability and accuracy of AI as a primary concern. A further 29% flagged data security – clearly, glass businesses are wary of AI, and I wouldn’t be surprised if those figures were reflected elsewhere in the supply chain.
Elton Boocock, founder of Thinkivity, which provides AI consultancy and training exclusively for the UK glazing industry, says that people ‘are either scared of AI, or they are getting high on it’.
He adds that a planned approach to AI is key and that the businesses that will benefit most from it are the ones who’ve identified a genuine challenge and then asked whether AI is the right fix.
You can read more from Elton in the July issue of Glass Times. And in the meantime, if your business has adopted AI then we’d love to hear from you. Is it making things better or is introducing more problems than it’s worth?
You can email me at [email protected]
Luke Wood
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