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AI-Driven Robots Are Rewriting The Factory Rulebook
In cognitive manufacturing, production is being transformed as humans increasingly work alongside ... More intelligent robots.
We are entering a new industrial revolution, the cognitive industrial revolution, where manufacturing is again being transformed through the growing use of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), advanced robots, data, digital twins, and the internet-of-things (IoT). This revolution builds on the progress of the past by further automating, optimizing, and integrating intelligence into every aspect of production. It's an unparalleled economic disruption that will require timely knowledge and investment by leaders.
At the leading edge of this revolution is the increasing adoption of robots. But these aren't the robots of the past. These are machines embedded with AI, something we now call physical AI, and behave with increasing amounts of agility and autonomy.
A lot of us find robots fascinating and it's probably because they occupy an outsized role in contemporary science fiction literature and movies. For many, a combination of the Daleks from BBC's Doctor Who, and the droids, C3PO and R2D2 from Star Wars, form some early impressions. These narrow representations of robots probably limited our views of what role they could play in real life.
The term robot means, surprisingly, but perhaps aptly, forced labor, and it's derived from the Czech word, Robota, first used in Karel Capek's 1920's play, 'Rossum's Universal Robots.'
Robots are defined as mechanical machines, particularly those that are controlled by a computer and carry out complex actions. Robots can look like humans, we call them humanoids, but they're just as likely to take the form of a Roomba device that vacuums carpet, a single arm that welds metal joints in a factory, or a laparoscope in a hospital operating room.
Unimate pouring coffee for a woman at Biltmore Hotel in 1967.
While there's a rich history of experimental and functional robots, most agree that the first computer-based production robot was invented in 1954 by George Devol and was called the Unimate. One of its first jobs was at General Motors in Trenton, New Jersey, where it was tasked with lifting and stacking hot pieces of metal from a die-casting machine.
Today, robots are common in production line automation in the manufacturing industry. Other high use areas include food processing, healthcare, warehousing, and logistics.
A peep into an Amazon fulfillment center illuminates the pervasiveness of robot use where they rapidly search for, identify, pick up, move, and pack products. Remarkably, across their organization, Amazon has over 750,000 robots performing these actions and more.
Robots sort and transport packages at the Amazon Air Hub at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky ... More International Airport (CVG) in Hebron, Kentucky, U.S., on Monday, Oct. 11, 2021. Photographer: Jeffrey Dean/Bloomberg
Today, significantly improved engineering coupled with AI is ushering in a new generation of robots and the era of cognitive manufacturing. These machines can perceive the world around them, make decisions and act autonomously to a degree, all while performing impressive movement.
With less constraints, robots are showing success in mimicking a wide variety of human tasks. Many organizations are experimenting with and already deploying humanoids in areas such as human collaboration—the term cobot is used to describe when a robot assists a human in their work, and in a manufacturing context where tasks are dangerous, repetitive, or require significant strength.
Perhaps the most striking development in cognitive manufacturing and robotics is the emergence of dark factories or lights-out manufacturing. This is when the entire production process operates independent of human participation. You could think of it as the ultimate end-state of automation.
In these facilities, physical AI and smart machines are responsible for all aspects of production and they operate 24/7. With no humans, there is no need for salaries and health insurance, and no expenses such as heat and light, resulting in significant cost savings. The notion of workplace accidents goes away.
The promise of the cognitive industrial revolution is a world where humanoids and other robots conduct complex artificial general intelligence (AGI) tasks in a fully autonomous fashion in every industry. This is also when robots will regularly and with ease do housework, babysit, cook food, deliver healthcare, and even provide companionship.
Various projections suggest that in the years ahead there will be millions, perhaps even billions, of humanoids working alongside and as replacements for humans.
Planning for a future of intelligent robots means thinking about how they might transform your industry, what it means for the future of work, and how it may change the relationship between humans and technology.
Leaders must consider the ethical issues of cognitive manufacturing such as job disruption and displacement, accountability when things go wrong, and the use of surveillance technology when, for example, robots use cameras working alongside humans.
The cognitive industrial revolution, like the industrial revolutions before it, will transform almost every aspect of our world, and change will happen faster and sooner than most expect. Consider for a moment, what will it take for each of us and our organizations to be ready for this future?
