Smart Industry 1/2020

Smart Business Title Story: Smart Companies
source ©: Connect-World
today is similar but not caused by
technical shortfalls. Some organizations,
she explains, are in a situation
where a lot of different pilots, proofs
of concept (POCs), and minimum
viable products (MVPs) have been
launched but often with neither a
clear business strategy nor a strong
operating model – something one
expert at the recent Industry of
Things Expo in Berlin referred to as
“proof-of-concept hell.”
Thieullent observes that many AI
deployments require cloud computing
from the very beginning but
many companies are still at the start
of their cloud journey. On the other
hand, many initiatives are currently
underway globally to boost AI.
For example, within the European
Union, the “France is AI” initiative is
When Failure Is Not an
Option
Machine learning can
help to detect failures in
production lines and to
optimize overall equipment
efficiency. Already,
computer vision is being
used to assist in automated
quality control systems.
In Europe, a
good number
of organizations
are now in the
AI Death Valley
phase.
Anne-Laure Thieullent
AI and analytics group
offer leader, Capgemini
now gathering together many companies
and start-ups, and the AI4EU
collaborative platform got going
earlier this year.
One area where Europeans may be
ahead of the curve is in their focus
on the ethical aspects of AI (see
“Can AI Be Evil?” on page 16) – proactively
addressing potential biases
in data sets or algorithms, building
explainability and visibility into AI
solutions, and adopting a more
transparent approach about the finality
and intent of AI applications.
“Companies like Telia have published
clear ethical AI guidelines
to provide a framework for these
applications,” says Thieullent. With
greater sensitivity toward data privacy
as well as the trust and consent
of the general public, especially
after the Cambridge Analytica incident,
this may turn into a competitive
advantage in the long run for
European organizations that will
implement a human-centric approach
to AI – or an AI that makes
sense to humans, she says.
While conditions for AI adoption
and expansion may not be perfect,
companies and organizations
around the world are moving ahead.
Cogito, a young US company with
roots in the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology’s (MIT) Human
Dynamics Lab, trains machines to
detect and interpret the social signals
in human communication. The
company now offers in-call guidance
to call center agents for every
phone conversation.
AI Meets IoT
Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas
Container Line (OOCL) provides
shipping containers for the world
market and has been applying AI
extensively in its operations. The
company recently upgraded its
MyOOCLReefer (MOR) service for
refrigerated containers by combining
AI, Internet of Things (IoT), and
mobility to provide transparency,
visibility, and convenience to shippers
when monitoring their cargoes.
In Vietnam, agriculture is get-
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