Latin America. At the last annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Roland Busch, president and CEO of Siemens AG, placed special emphasis on how artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the operations of the industrial sector through virtual assistants.
Roland explained how the adoption of AI by digital users has accelerated drastically with the aim of efficiently managing activities of daily life such as reminders, home automation actions and even entertainment. However, the incursion of AI into our lives does not stop there; today, this technology is already present in extremely critical areas such as industries through natural language where professionals and AI collaborate to solve problems and perfect automation actions faster and without the need for complex programming languages.
The great value of AI lies in its ability to make data actionable. For example, in highly automated factories, machines generate an amount of data equivalent to half a million films per month, information that is normally underutilized. However, with AI, manufacturers can leverage data collection to analyze patterns, detect inefficiencies, predict outcomes, and make smarter decisions; a real treasure based on information. At Siemens we have detected that quality control in the industry now requires 95% less effort, thanks to this data analytical capacity.
This pattern of AI use is not limited to factories; This same capability is applicable in the field of healthcare, where this technology is capable of interpreting images such as MRIs and X-rays. Likewise, in agriculture, it helps robots to identify ripe fruits for picking; In buildings, you can evaluate data from your building blocks to increase energy efficiency and reduce costs and carbon emissions.
Even more powerful combinations
When AI is combined with digital twin technology (virtual replicas of real-world systems), the impact is even greater. Possibilities range from monitoring and optimizing performance to creating more realistic simulations and making accurate predictions.
Let's take a moment to imagine what might result from using AI in conjunction with the digital twin. We could transform our world to build smarter factories and more efficient transportation systems, to more sustainable infrastructure. The transformative potential is limitless, with humanity being the greatest beneficiary.
On the other hand, industrial AI assistants have the ability to help people innovate, collaborate, and make informed decisions more effectively. In addition, they promote that the human intellect focuses on higher-value jobs, while technology takes care of repetitive tasks.
For example, motion technology company Schaeffler is testing the Siemens Industrial Copilot solution to generate machine code and perform operational tasks such as maintenance and repairs. The company is one of more than 100 companies in Europe and the United States that use the solution to streamline machine programming and address complex problems.
As we can see, the transformation that workflows are undergoing in industries will increase productivity and improve the work experience for professionals on the production floors. However, success requires providing people with the right training to thrive in this new technological era.
It is important to mention that various market estimates suggest that by 2027, 60% of global manufacturers will use generative AI as a tool to help people gain experience more quickly. Among other uses, the technology will capture the experience of retiring employees and transfer it to the next generation, helping to mitigate the growing shortage of skilled labor. People will get smarter and industries too.
Boost productivity
As technology makes industries smarter, the global productivity gap will become a thing of the past. For example, a few years ago in the IT sector, an administrator attended to 1,000 tickets; today, with the digitization of processes, they can serve 100,000. This effect will be even greater when digital technologies become the standard in more industries.
The same happens with the companies that are part of the World Economic Forum's Global Lighthouse Network. In Amberg, Siemens has increased production 20 times in 18 years, while the number of employees remains the same. In Erlangen, advanced technologies, including AI and the digital twin, have enabled a 69% increase in productivity and a 42% decrease in energy consumption. In addition, throughout the process, continuous training is offered to equip staff with the necessary skills as their roles evolve.
This is just one example of the power of new technologies like AI and the digital twin in action. When these are combined with industry-specific insights, they can open up new possibilities for everyone, making cutting-edge solutions more accessible, helping us tackle our most pressing challenges, from equitable growth to sustainability. How we adopt and implement these technologies today will shape the future of humanity.
Analysis by Alejandro Preinfalk, President and CEO of Siemens Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.
