Industrial
AI-driven technologies should be welcomed, but preparation is key
This month, CIE Magazine sits down with Ankur Tomar, regional solutions marketing manager at Farnell, to discuss the latest trends and developments in the industrial sector
CIE: The rapid advance of Machine Learning, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and digital twins are having a profound impact on the way industry and manufacturing are able to profitably advance. What, specifically, are the most prominent of those impacts and are they short-term or lifelong?
Ankur Tomar (AT): The practical impact of ML, IIoT, AI and digital twins on manufacturing is that they will enable manufacturers to perform predictive maintenance and improve operational and energy efficiency by collecting and interpreting vast amounts of data. The technologies are already improving asset management by reducing downtime and enabling better decisions to be made. As the technologies at the core of this become an integral part of manufacturing, lifelong
46 April 2025
benefits will be seen, and will ultimately enable the right goods to get to the right customers at the right time at a much faster pace.
The industries most likely to feel the near-term benefits of AI-driven technologies include industrial and manufacturing (more efficient production and regulatory compliance); autonomous vehicles and transportation (combatting software bugs and undefined behaviour); energy (more efficient production, transportation, and waste prevention) and healthcare (speeding up diagnosis and providing faster treatment).
CIE: There are arguments that the advance of ML, the IIoT and digital twins will steal jobs. There are an equal number of arguments that they will create jobs, in some cases far more than
Components in Electronics
they replace. Which scenario displays the strongest evidence for reality in today’s market? AT: The truth is that, for the most part, AI will replace jobs that were already on their way out, while at the same time creating new – but different – jobs due to the massive productivity advances it will enable. It’s happened before.
The Industrial Revolution that began in Great Britain during the mid-18th and early 19th centuries - based largely on the adoption of coal and wood as energy sources - replaced the small, specialist craft and guild models that preceded it. However, it created far more – and often better paying – jobs in factories that used those fuel sources, and ushered in a new age of technological change, innovation, and productivity.
This is not dissimilar to what’s happening
today with ML, the IIoT, and digital twinning, but with data now serving as the abundant fuel source.
The IIoT will be crucial in steering the industrial sector towards a more sustainable and thriving future. And while the adoption of Deep Learning (DL) technology is growing rapidly, its total transformative power is still in its infancy. As the technology evolves almost daily, its applications will span entire product and process lifecycles.
According to a 2024 report called AI at Work: Unlocking Global Opportunities (1)
by
“Global Made Possible”, more than two- thirds of business leaders from more than 1,500 businesses in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States believe AI is critical for remaining competitive. And 84 per cent of those business leaders report they are planning to invest
www.cieonline.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
