COMMENT April 2022 Automation Smarter solutions for industrial efficiency automationmagazine.co.uk April 2022 Levitating planar movers kg


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here is a growing number of reports in the media, largely fed by robot manufacturers, about the importance of robots in this new chapter of the industrialised era. As with every new technology, such news are met with a healthy degree of scepticism – and in the case of robots, this largely lies in the premise that robots will make humans redundant in the workplace. Luckily, this is not the case. Where robots might take over mundane and repetitive jobs, humans will be freed to engage in tasks that are more creative in nature and where product finesse and customisation are required.


There’s no denying it, robots will take over many tasks in the industry – it is an unstoppable trend and not necessarily one to be feared.


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However, what could prove more problematic are machine learning and AI algorithms that could easily take a life of their own – if algorithms by Instagram (now owned by Facebook) and Facebook (now called Meta) are anything to go by. Their algorithms have been in the spotlight on more than one occasion, showing how dangerous they can be: By a mere click on an icon, button or thread, these algorithms start targeting people by ‘throwing’ more of the same content at them, which for some has even proven fatal – feeding their habit to destruction. Perhaps it is here that we need to use more human beings, to review algorithms’ decisions, and weed out potentially dangerous ‘loops’.


The products of Insta, Meta and the like may not be directly applicable to the industrial world, but they do use some of the most sophisticated algorithms around, their development having cost billions. In fact, the algorithms are so successful at doing what they are designed to do by applying their own logic and learning experiences, that even by the admission of these companies’ own technical gurus, at times they tend to do their own thing, making them rather unpredictable and in some ways unstoppable.


“Unpredictability” is a word that should never enter the industrial world, so focusing on making ML and AI algorithms consistent, safe and predictable is a must – which may at times contradict the premise of machine learning algorithms and AI deciding what’s best for a machine, the factory floor or indeed a business. ML and AI are still in their infancy, and whilst they are further developed and tweaked, there might be some casualties on the way to the dream of having machines run the world for the greater good.


Svetlana Josifovska, Editor


Editor Svetlana Josifovska Tel: 01732 883392


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