AI Could Have a Great Impact on Wisconsin's Manufacturing Industry

Thursday, October 26th, 2023 -- 11:00 AM

(By Joe Schulz, Wisconsin Public Radio) When Alex Peters walks through manufacturer KI’s Green Bay plant, he sees a lot of potential for how artificial intelligence could enhance the company’s machines.

According to Joe Schulz with Wisconsin Public Radio, the northeast Wisconsin company produces furniture for offices and schools. KI manufactured its first product, a metal folding chair, in 1941, and moved to Wisconsin from Illinois four years later.

As the company’s automation engineering manager, Peters helps plan how the company will implement technology in its facility to increase productivity and plant safety, including artificial intelligence, also known as AI.

"For automated systems on the plant floor, I can see AI being a powerful tool, just monitoring machine conditions," he said. "The AI can be monitoring the inputs and outputs of the system. And if it detects an anomaly, something like a sensor is failing, it could reach out and let somebody know."

A 2018 report from economics research firm McKinsey Global Institute said generative AI’s effect on productivity could add trillions of dollars in value to the global economy, and “will have a significant impact across all industry sectors.”

And last November, AI went mainstream with the launch of generative AI chatbot ChatGPT, which showcased a form of machine learning that can use data to produce text, video, images and other content.

Wisconsin businesses are working to learn as much as they can about this relatively new technology. But even with more attention on the technology and its possibilities, one of Wisconsin's largest economic sectors may not be ready for it.

A new survey of over 400 manufacturing executives by the Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing & Productivity found that only 26 percent were either using or considering AI. Over half of respondents, 51 percent, say it’s not going to have much of an impact on their businesses.

Another 41 percent believe AI is going to be another piece of technology among many, while 5 percent say it will fundamentally change their business. Buckley Brinkman, CEO of the Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing & Productivity, said he thinks manufacturers may be underestimating the technology’s impact on the workplace.

He said AI could "change everything about manufacturing." While manufacturing has long embraced robotics and automation in ways that mostly affect blue-collar workers, AI tools could reshape the workplace for office employees and executives, Brinkman said.

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