INTERVIEW JANUARY 2019
POWER TO THE PEOPLE
People will be at the heart of the successful adoption of artificial intelligence, according
to a new report by Microsoft. Here, the company’s UK CTO, Michael Wignall, tells MM
about the impact AI can have on UK manufacturing – if it is implemented correctly
BY CHRIS BECK
Artificial intelligence (AI) is slowly
becoming part of our everyday lives.
From digital personal assistants,
such as Cortana and Alexa, to the
algorithms that allow the likes of eBay
and ASOS to make suggestions based
on our previous behaviour, AI’s influence – in the
home at least – is growing.
Its adoption in the workplace, though, is
lagging behind. Today’s offices and factories are,
on the whole, a step back in time compared to
the outside world. And this needs to change,
according to a recent report from Microsoft,
entitled Maximising the AI Opportunity. It found
that around two-fifths of UK business leaders
(across all sectors) are worried that their current
business model will cease to exist in five years’
time, but that just 37% are not currently focused
on using AI in the workplace, and just under half
(49%) don’t use any AI technologies at all.
This, warns the report, is a worrying
trend. The benefits that AI can bring are huge
– especially for manufacturers. “It is welldocumented
that today’s manufacturers find
themselves under strain,” says Michael Wignall,
chief technology officer at Microsoft UK.
“Mundane and often dangerous tasks are leaving
them with little time to focus on higher value,
innovative work – creating the next electric car or
underwater data centre. Indeed, the productivity
of this UK industry remains a subject of major
policy debate as statistics continue to indicate its
weakness. AI will therefore have an increasingly
important role through
automation, robotics and
edge computing to remedy
this, as that product assembly
which originally took hours
to be completed by hand can
now be solved in a matter of
minutes. It is therefore no
surprise to find that 87% of
the industry’s leaders and
employees agree that there is a
place for automation and AI in
manufacturing.”
Change, or risk missing out
The benefits of AI adoption
are huge, says Wignall. “AI is
already here and it’s creating
value for organisations of all
shapes and sizes,” he explains.
“Those organisations that
are already embracing AI are
outperforming those that aren’t
by 5%. That’s a huge return on
investment to an organisation’s
bottom line.”
The report has a stark
warning for those companies
that may have considered
AI, but haven’t yet taken the
plunge. “Ambition is not the
same as adoption,” it says. “For
positive transformation to truly
take place, every organisation
requires a clear roadmap for
change. A roadmap that gives
its people the tools and training
to understand how, when, and
why to incorporate AI into
their jobs.
“That encourages leaders
and employees to think deeply
about the ethical implications
of merging human and machine.
And that promotes a culture in
which workers feel empowered
to experiment with new
approaches, fail fast, refine, and
try again … Large numbers of
organisations are either failing
to harness AI in any capacity,
or are simply not aware they
are using it already. Both
represent a recipe for missed
opportunity.”
The seeds are there, though,
and if managed correctly, the
UK has the potential to be
a world-leader in artificial
intelligence. This sentiment
was echoed by Lord Clement-
Jones, chairman of the House
of Lords Select Committee on
Artificial Intelligence, who said
that “without doubt, artificial
intelligence can provide a great
opportunity for British society
and the economy.”
Put people at the centre
This success won’t come
unless the country’s workers
are on board. One eye-opening
statistic from the Microsoft
report compares the attitudes
of employees and business
leaders to the impact of AI.
The former see AI as a threat –
22% say it will ‘generally make
British families worse off ’, and a
further 20% says it will ‘absolve
people of responsibilities’.
Meanwhile, those leading
businesses are more optimistic.
Business leaders
recognise the
benefits of AI
24 www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk
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