Why things have to change

1. Things have to change because it is their job to change. It’s called entropy. More than a feeling. It’s the law.
2. There is an economic ebb and flow to the Western world. Europe has been on edge for a while, and in a low economic point. Two things are exacerbating the ecnomies and to an extent, blocking recovery: the war between Ukraine and Russia, and the situation in Israel.
3. Many people I’ve spoken to are somewhat afraid of artificial intelligence, I think because of a sense of awe and uncertainty. They know that our brains are amazing computers and more, and they consider AI to be even smarter. It is not. Not by a long shot.
4. The little trick to thinking about AI is to think about how physical automation came to be in manufacturing. Now, if you change the physical to process or educated action, you have the same thing just in the abstract instead of the real world.
5. Remember that AI is coming, there is no stopping it. What are the first iterations of it? Mostly looking at feedback from the environment (after being trained, of course). My favorite example is still Mitsubishi and the way the company deployed its Maisart AI system that enabled autonomous driving cars to manufacturing. One of the first applications was on a laser cutter, and it was to watch out for different colors of the burn and any noise that was not the normal noise. Pretty simple things to watch for but it took a lot of work to get there.
6. Does your recruiting activity continue to draw too many candidates? Sadly, I think I know the answer. And yet, there are many news stories and interviews with young people who are getting into the trades and avoiding a $200,000 debt. Typically (and unscientifically because it’s a small sample) these people tend to be welders, because 1) you can be your own boss pretty easily; 2) well trained, you can make good dough; and 3) if you have some visual art talent, welding is a perfect place to practice that art.
7. I keep noticing an increase in the number of consultancies—for many different specialties. Expect there to be a big increase in teaching company leadership teams how AI can help them meet tomorrow head-on.

I’ll keep you posted on these topics.