Key Takeaways

• AI is impacting both office and frontline workers, with a focus on robotics in manufacturing.
• Manufacturing environments are becoming more automated, reducing the need for human workers.
• AI will create new job roles but not in the same volumes as historical industrial periods.

Topics

• AI & Machine Learning
• Digital Transformation
• Innovation
• Technology

Transcript

As you know, at ScreenCloud, we have focused on digital signage communication, particularly to frontline and deskless workers. So it's pertinent that we consider the impact of AI both in the office environment and the knowledge worker environment, but also on the frontline. Now, until recently, I would have said that it will impact the frontline much, much less than it will knowledge workers, and that's probably still true. However, we are now beginning to see the emergence of AI in robotics, and I have visited multiple manufacturing plants where they are heavily using robotics, and there's far fewer people working in those environments than you might think. When I have visited manufacturing environments, I am surprised to see how few people are there working on the ground because most of it is automated and is using robotics extensively. So although there's going to be a lot of new jobs created as we re-industrialize, as America is re-industrializing apace, it won't quite have the same numbers that it would have had back in the 1950s. So I think AI is ultimately going to impact everything, and on the frontline, I think we'll start to see that emerging in a few years' time. But first, it's going to be the people working on computers.