The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
Artificial intelligence has become the latest villain in a long line of publicly suspect technologies, from the locomotive to personal computers, from television to genetics, and from elevators to cell phones.
To borrow a title from a hit holiday movie, perhaps “AI For Good” needs time in the theater of popular opinion.
Some opponents portray AI as little more than a tool for graphics-minded scammers or, far worse, a technology that will drain the world of clean water while depleting electricity and killing jobs in the process.
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Not that AI should be exempt from public scrutiny, but it’s instructive to learn how the growth of “physical AI” can make core industries such as manufacturing, food production, health care and construction more efficient. That theme is especially pertinent in Wisconsin.
“I view the state of Wisconsin as a great laboratory … to come up with solutions to problems not currently available to us,” said Daniel van der Weide, a professor in the UW-Madison College of Engineering and the founding director of Wisconsin CHIPS. That center serves as Wisconsin’s hub for semiconductor research and workforce development.
As van der Weide explained, AI is helping to developing “smart” automation tools that can make Wisconsin manufacturers more productive and competitive. It will also help to optimize energy grids, improve supply-chain efficiency, assist in environmental challenges such as removing “forever” chemicals such as PFAS from water; and make some workplaces safer.
Some examples of everyday problems that can be tackled through AI are better designs for roof trusses, maintenance for trucks and other vehicles, and advancing precision farming. Medical research can also improve through AI when it comes to exploration of new treatments and therapies.
Closer to the patient, AI can also automate routine tasks, improve diagnoses, help clinicians better interpret medical imaging results and aid in the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases.
van der Weide is not alone at the UW-Madison or other state universities when it comes to thinking about ways to employ AI to help businesses or all sizes.
At the UW-Stout, the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Artificial Intelligence is offering expertise in additive manufacturing, machine “vision” systems, plastics engineering and injection molding, and packaging, to cite some examples.
A joint conference produced by the UW-Stevens Point and Northcentral Technical College will take place Feb. 25 in Wausau to explore “AI Innovations at Work.”
None of this is likely to dissuade those who think huge data centers will cause more harm than good. However, there are mitigating factors.
- Companies are turning to cooling technologies that use little to no water, such as direct-to-chip or immersion cooling. Some even hope to be “water positive” by replenishing more water than they consume.
- Wisconsin is not a state that allows electricity costs to be passed on to those who don’t use it. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin keeps a watchful eye on such “cost-shifting” practices.
- There are already about 45 data centers in Wisconsin; they’re just smaller than the mega-centers under construction or proposed. Even the smaller centers are part of a larger energy puzzle. Industry accounts for about three-tenths of the state’s total energy consumption and has finally passed pre-COVID levels. Electric vehicles are here to stay. More housing is being built. Residential power use in existing homes has climbed, led by heating and cooling units.
- Worries about a stock market “bubble” due to AI investments may be correct in one sense: Not every company in the AI space will be successful. That’s competition, and the long-term benefits for the economy, national security and society in general are immense.
- There are predictions that AI will create more jobs than it eliminates, but neither trend will take place overnight.
The struggle between AI’s potentially “wicked” and “good” sides will continue for a while, but good should triumph in time. People should keep an open mind while waiting for this movie to play out.
– Still is the past president of the Wisconsin Technology Council.
