The impact of AI and automation on business

This month I was fortunate to join an elite group of Australia’s most successful AI and automation ‘rock stars’, brought together by the team at 6 Degrees media, to share critical insights on how these emerging technologies are being applied as core accelerants to their digital business initiatives. We shared the stage with math genius and MC Adam Spencer to share best practice AI and automation with an audience of 150+ senior tech and business executives from Australia’s top industries at the Voco Brisbane City Centre Hotel. I've tried to reproduce some of the content from my fireside chat with Adam in this blog post.

Credit: Wilma James, CSIRO's Data61

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• You’ve been recognised as one of the 14 members of the Kingston AI Group, Australia's leading researchers and innovators in artificial intelligence. What is the Kingston AI Group and what do you believe is needed to accelerate AI research into real-life practice across government and business enterprise?

Like the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists that formed to highlight challenges to Australia's water and biodiversity, the Kingston AI Group has formed to raise our concerns at the low level of investment that Australia is making into AI research compared to our peer nations. To address this we need a strategy with a clear vision of where Australia wants to be in the AI space, supported by funded initiatives. Incentivising government departments and businesses to adopt AI by de-risking is important, for example, if organisations had confidence that they could implement technologies and would not sustain a financial loss in doing so, it would support them to work with local AI suppliers. In turn, more engagement with the business sector feeds back into the research and commercialisation process so that solutions to relevant problems can be fast-tracked.

• How do you see AI transforming the landscape for entrepreneurs and businesses in the next 5 years? Can you give us a specific example?

AI will open up a range of new creative enterprises and require new business models so, for those willing to design AI-first businesses the results will be transformative. An example of this would be the application of computer vision to robotics. Until very recently robots have remained limited in their application to the factory floor and within university laboratories, but advanced in computer processing power and the ability for robots to use cameras to gain awareness of their surroundings in real-time, usually by applying AI algorithms on the edge to enable real-time decision-making has been transformative for robotics, resulting in a while new class of robots, called field robots, that are designed to work in the complex and ever changing world which we inhabit. Soon we will see robots far more commonly out and about and interacting with us in a range of home and work environments.

• What do you think are the biggest hurdles to implementing innovation in businesses? And what strategies can be used by executives to overcome them?

​While Australians are fast adopters of new technology in their personal lives, Australian businesses are far more conservative.  The biggest hurdle to implementing innovation is risk aversion and fear of failure. In Australia we have a much lower tolerance for this than in other countries such as the US, leading to the irony that many Australian AI companies find it easier to sell into the US military than into Australia. Acceptance that some technology projects will fail is essential to take advantage of innovation. To reap the benefits of automation and to see business transformation requires responsible risk-taking and will increasingly become a source of competitive advantage for those companies able to do this well.

• What new skills or abilities will be in high demand for the workforce in the next 5 years?

Australia will experience difficulties in filling jobs in many sectors by 2030. Growing demand for technological and soft skills. Greatest skills shortfall in computers and mathematics. We will never have enough mechatronics engineers and electrical tradespeople, especially those with a background in control. We will see significant shortfalls in: engineering;  technical support; health care; community and social services; management; business and financial operations. Creative thinking and human-computer interaction skills in general will be in high demand.

• Let’s talk robotics. In your opinion, which industries in Australia are most likely to be disrupted by advances in robotics and automation?

The #1 industry that will be disrupted is Construction, a high risk low margin sector that has been impervious to innovation until relatively recently and hence will see great disruption when it does occur. >80% of Australians are employed in the Services sector so logistics and transportation will be one of the first areas where we will see significant changes, followed by Defence, Emergency Response, healthcare, personal services and hopefully the education sector will benefit from automation, to take some of the drudgery out of teaching. Increasingly we will see cross-overs of technology from when sector into another, e.g., from Mining into Construction and vice versa.

• What are some of the biggest ethical or societal concerns that come with the widespread implementation of AI and autonomous robotics? Can you outline a recent case?

Who benefits from the implementation of AI and autonomous robotics?  The case of robotic surgery in hospitals demonstrates how benefits may be unevenly distributed. In Australia access to robotic surgery is limited to the private sector. At what point will patients of public hospitals be able to benefit from this capital intensive technology?  The open question is whether these new technologies will be applied to the benefit of all members of society and how can we make sure that happens. A lot of people have raised concerns about whether these technologies will lead to a widening gap between rich and poor and lead to further income inequality, at which point we might see people actively disengage from the technologies that are not supporting them to have better lives.

• Can you share an example of a highly successful robotics implementations here or around the world, and how that created new revenue opportunities for the organisations?

Australia was the first country in the world to automate its ports using automated straddle carriers - large robots that move shipping containers around. The impact of these robots have seen significant savings in terminal operating expenses such as labour and maintenance costs. Other direct benefits include increased efficiency, more predictable operations, higher availability, significantly improved occupational safety (zero safety incidents), better site security and longer equipment life spans. In an automated terminal, horizontal transportation and lifting equipment is always handled optimally. Collisions due to human error and unplanned repair tasks are eliminated.

Automated equipment also conserves resources and contributes to the sustainability of resources. Significant fuel savings are realised through optimal driving patterns, a reduced need for air-conditioning, and consistent implementation of engine stop functionality during equipment idle time. An automated terminal also requires less lighting in the yard, which decreases power consumption and reduces the environmental impact of operations. Automation can directly help achieve organisational ambitions towards decarbonisation.

• If we were to meet here on stage in 3 years’ time, what emerging tech do you think we will be talking about – what will be the next big thing then?

Quantum sensors. Quantum sensors allow greatly improved performance and will transform navigation and positioning capabilities for self-driving vehicles of all kinds - underwater, in the air, on land and beneath the earth's surface. These sensors will be so precise that the laws of quantum physics are required to understand how they function. Quantum sensors will revolutionise robotics and I can't wait to see them in action.