Back to the future: how "machines with intelligence" can pave the way to the future

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, seems to be everywhere these days. I’m noticing the abbreviation increasingly more in the media, in movies, advertisements, in social media. And as ABB’s Chief Communications and Sustainability Officer, I see AI being increasingly discussed within our company. I like to say I am not an engineer by education, but by interest. I am genuinely interested in everything related to technology and innovation, and yet I realized my understanding of AI was not that comprehensive. Fortunately for me, the most recent edition of our corporate technical journal, the ABB Review, is dedicated to this subject.

ABB Review, the oldest corporate technical journal, is highly respected in the technical community. Contributors to the journal are all ABB employees, experts in their respective fields. The current issue focuses on the transformational power of AI to provide insights and pave the way for a billion better decisions – thanks to intelligent people and intelligent machines working together.

Artificial intelligence is a true game changer for industry

Improving the bottom line is only one way to look at the potential of AI. Applying AI based solutions to an industrial setting can make production, buildings or logistic chains more efficient, productive and sustainable. Now I understand why AI is considered to be a true game changer for industry. I learned these solutions can be adapted to meet a vast range of needs, and that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. AI should also not be looked at as an off-the-shelf. Now I know: AI is not just a technology, it is a business process as well, and a reason for close collaboration between customer and provider.

A look into the crystal ball of analysts clearly shows that AI is rapidly developing into a significant business area. According to the International Data Corporation in 2021 revenue in the AI market will grow by a staggering 17.5 percent annually to top $550 billion by 2024.

Empower real-time, data-driven decisions for safer, smarter operations that maximize resource efficiency and contribute to a low-carbon future.

One of the articles in the issue looks back to 2016 when ABB launched its own integrated Industrial Internet platform ABB Ability? to develop leading edge solutions for its customers. ABB Ability? solutions combine our deep domain expertise gained over more than 130 years with connectivity and software innovation to empower real-time, data-driven decisions for safer, smarter operations that maximize resource efficiency and contribute to a low-carbon future.

AI needs an ocean of data!

The issue also points that to utilize any AI application you need to have a pool – or better, an ocean – of data. With today’s plethora of low-cost sensors collecting an ocean of data is easy. However, the domain expertise one needs to identify the right data set to analyze and react to is much more important and is the more difficult challenge.

To improve bottom line, profitability and energy efficiency, implementing an AI solution can be a big help. But the AI solution cannot do this alone. To successfully bring about change, you also need to have an agile organization and the supporting infrastructure. Then an AI solution will bring critical insights which enable you to power predictive analytics systems (like our ABB Ability? Genix), that can, for example, maneuver ships autonomously through busy harbors or build a digital twin for simulating a production process or even a complete production line.

Check out the latest issue of our ABB Review and find out more about “machines with intelligence” – I hope you will find it a worthwhile read.