Artificial Intelligence – Not All Created Equal
AI is the new revolution – or maybe evolution – that is going to significantly impact our productivity at work and off-work.
AI Sweden , Sweden’s national center for applied AI, states that “AI is a very powerful technology that will be able to help us optimize and make everyday tasks much more efficient.”
Lars Erik Christian Fagerholm , Executive Vice President of Maillefer Group, in an interview with Expometals, explains that in a meaningful way: “AI plays a major role in over half of what we do in R&D here at Maillefer nowadays. It's a powerful tool that helps us refine processes, optimize production, and ultimately deliver superior results for our clients.”
In essence, artificial intelligence (AI) goal is to reproduce automatic actions by imitating human behavior. In the metal industry, there are still plenty of tasks that can be automated. This does not necessarily mean reducing staff, but rather achieving surplus time that can be used to bring greater value to companies. Quality assurance is a domain where artificial intelligence adds big power to dramatically improve processes and products.
At ISEND we have been working with AI since 2014, when the EDDYEyes project started: a pioneer NDT solution for steel, aluminum, copper and other metals mills combining eddy-currents, machine vision and artificial vision as powerful tools. EDDYEyes was unveiled as a system in 2018 and since then it has been in use in mills in Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Austria, Turkey, USA, and Mexico.
Not all AI is the same. Yes, it is a neural network, and to simplify it, it is similar to our brain, and like our brain, it needs to be taught. Training can be hard and ISEND's EDDYeyes is presented as a solution already trained through datasets from various customers.?
However, if we want AI to advance and further improve our processes, specific training is needed at each mill. Training is easy, even fun, thanks to the user interface and the aids that the solution offers.
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Although it is not strictly necessary, each customer can perceive from the beginning, the power of analysis that it brings. The concept is similar to a person who keeps expanding his or her capabilities through continuous learning and/or training. For instance: EDDYeyes has 15 different defects identified and classified. Out of the box, it’s not necessary to train, but sometimes, a new defect appears in a mill. Should that be the case, EDDYeyes shows the output to the customer as a cluster, and all the customer needs to do is to name said cluster.
Also, like our brain, AI is dependent on powerful hardware and software for its “sensory” inputs and execution of its actions. The same way that a soccer player needs clear vision and strong legs. With slow and inaccurate inputs and outputs, the best AI is worth nothing. A midfielder may be strong, but if slow, he will probably never win any championship. EDDYeyes is strong, fast, clever and accurate, and moreover, very easy to maintain.
Conclusion: not all AI is created equal.
When you are considering AI to optimize your production to deliver superior results for your clients, and to improve the quality of your products without increasing your costs, just ask yourself who is behind the AI you are considering installing; what datasets have been used, what is the background of the provider, etc., and you will conclude that EDDYeyes is your answer.