Empowering Industry 4.0 with AI As AI emerges from reel-life to real-life to become the frontier of world-changing technologies, there is an urgent need for systematic development and implementation of AI to see its real impact in the next generation of i

The next step in industrial technology is about robotics, computers and equipment becoming connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) and enhanced by machine learning algorithms. Industry 4.0 has the potential to be a powerful driver of economic growth, predicted to add between $500 billion$1.5 trillion in value to the global economy between 2018 and 2022, according to a report by Capgemini.

AI is one of the emerging technologies already being utilised by manufacturers to improve product quality, efficiency and for cutting down on operating costs. We are starting to see a working relationship between humans and robots, an area which is benefiting from the use of AI in the manufacturing plants. The smart factory which is made up of hyper-connected production processes comprises of various machines that all communicate with one another, relying on AI automation platforms to collect and analyse all types of data including images, standardised code text and categorized fixed field text.

A recent IDC survey of global organisations that are already using AI solutions found that only 25% have only developed an enterprise wide AI strategy. Many organizations are applying AI to increase their efficiency. However, there are immense quantities of data that have not even been digitized or organized in a way that enables AI to use them. Furthermore, numerous organizations lack the right people, such as data scientists, to analyze whatever data they have. BFSI, healthcare, logistics which are manual labour-intensive industries deals with a lot of data requires AI solutions to produce effective results.

Manufacturing companies that are looking to innovate and deploy AI need to look towards implementing integrated automation platforms that use bots built with fractal science technology for undertaking admin-based roles and tasks. Fractal science is based on the premise of self-similarity and that networks of neurons carry 22 www.dqindia.com similar but not identical signals about patterns. Fractal science is a more deterministic science which needs a smaller representative data set for training. With Fractal technology one needs a thinner infrastructure, lesser computing power and it becomes much easier and faster to implement.

These types of AI, known as multi-tenancy platforms, enable multiple bots to reside on a single machine and perform several different processes at once. It also allows personnel to use the same machine to perform other functions at the same time, meaning that less of the human touch is required to fulfil roles.

This, in turn, means that a significant number of workers can be re-skilled and retrained at a faster rate, to take on the more technical and complex work such as designing and programming, effectively moving them off the production floor and on to higher positions. This is something that is already happening in some parts of the industry.

These bots will not only speed up the manufacturing process but also aid human workers in decision making.