We’ve all seen the rise in AI Copilots and LLMs (Large Language Models) from ChatGPT and similar to Microsoft’s CoPilot. Many of us will be using them if not daily, then probably pretty regularly. So what are they and where do they potentially fit in a manufacturing environment?
An AI Copilot is a conversational interface which uses LLMs to support users in various tasks and decision-making processes. In a manufacturing environment they have the potential to become invaluable as we can see below.
Data analysis and interpretation: as we move more and more to condition monitoring and predictive maintenance, help is going to be needed to analyse and interpret all the data generated. The integration of copilots and LLMs is likely to be transformative. They’ll be able to improve efficiency by providing real-time data-analysis, predict equipment failures and recommend optimal maintenance schedules. This will lead to a reduction in unplanned downtime and consequent increase productivity.
Design and Development: LLMs can assist engineers in design and development by simulating multiple scenarios through feasibility analyses. This can be to the point of optimising product features even before a prototype has been built.
Insights: insights derived from market trends and customer behaviour will help model business outcomes. This will enable better informed decisions about production, inventory management and resource allocation to be made.
Workplace: perhaps one of the biggest changes will be copilots and LLMs working alongside humans, complementing both their skills and knowledge. With their ability to handle repetitive tasks, this will allow us to focus on the more complex, creative and strategic ones. We are ostensibly in Industry 4.0 as we see an increasing trend towards automation and increase in data and its use. Industry 5.0 will see robots alongside humans – cobots – and both AI and LLMs are key.
There will no doubt be fears about jobs as there are when any new technology is introduced. However, figures from BDO showed the number of jobs in manufacturing had grown in 6 out of 8 regions in England and Wales. Additionally 74,000 vacancies remain unfilled, equivalent to a £6.5bn output gap.
So with AI Copilots ultimately it’s not going to be so much about automation as augmentation: helping us do what we do, only better and more efficiently