Editorial comment
We are in the midst of an AI revolution. In the same realm as flying cars and robot servants, artificial intelligence has been an alien concept to many of us for decades. What once seemed more befitting of quirky science fiction novels or films, is now part of the fabric of our daily lives. As technology continues to evolve, powering innovation in all fields from communication to entertainment, and education to healthcare, artificial intelligence and machine learning is quickly becoming entrenched in our reality.
Register for free »
Get started now for absolutely FREE, no credit card required.
Despite a string of incredible triumphs, new technologies and developments in AI are by no means foolproof; mistakes will inevitably happen, and when they do, they can be costly, risking the spread of bias and misinformation. X’s chatbot Grok, for example, recently misinterpreted posts describing NBA player, Klay Thompson, ‘shooting bricks’. The phrase is commonly known within the basketball community and denotes players ‘missing their shots’; Grok however did not pick up on this meaning, instead accusing the player of vandalising homes in Sacramento.1
On 19 July 2024 technology failed us spectacularly, when the world experienced what is being dubbed the largest IT outage in history. As cyber-security firm, Crowdstrike, issued a faulty update to Microsoft Windows software, an estimated 8.5 million users were faced with the chilling ‘blue screen of death’. The glitch was experienced across the globe, with airports, GPs, hospitals, pharmacies, banks, and supermarkets all met with the same fate. What ensued can only be described as chaos, as flights were grounded, and critical services became unavailable.2
The glitch unsurprisingly brought about questions regarding our growing reliance on technology as a society. Should we really be putting all of our eggs into the digital basket if the whole infrastructure could crumble when one error is made?
US Federal Trade Commission Chair, Lina Khan, posted on X: “All too often these days, a single glitch results in a system-wide outage, affecting industries from healthcare and airlines to banks and auto-dealers. Millions of people and businesses pay the price. These incidents reveal how concentration can create fragile systems.”3
Perhaps a more balanced approach should be taken towards digitalisation, in which human skills and expertise are merely bolstered by the benefits that new technologies can offer us, rather than handing the reins over to artificial intelligence entirely. It seems that the fertilizer industry is striking the right balance, using these new tools to support workers, rather than allowing them to run the ship completely.
In this issue of World Fertilizer, Navigance describes the role of machine learning in fertilizer plant monitoring; the company’s hybrid process models are built to identify the early warning signs of plant failures and process anomalies, which then allows workers to make informed decisions on how best to respond to the plant’s behaviour. Here, technology is simply a tool at the disposal of the experts, and a helping hand to support them in making important decisions.
Mettler Toledo’s article on p.43 also discusses how automation solutions at the truck scale can help reduce the risk of spills and improve overall safety. Such solutions are well equipped to tackle the more rigorous and potentially dangerous challenges involved with the handling and transport of fertilizer materials, allowing engineers to conduct their operations safely and focus their attention on other demanding aspects of their work.
Whilst AI and machine learning have their place in helping to ensure a more efficient, safe and precise process, plant personnel who have the know-how and expertise to manage the complexities and challenges of the sector, are indispensable. A balance between ‘the human factor’ and up-and-coming technologies must be achieved to create the best environment for success.
*References are available upon request.
