Editorial comment
Last month you may recall that I talked about how 2024 was the year of elections, with more than half the world due to visit the polling booth at some point this year. However, another thing that 2024 is likely to be remembered for is being the year that the use of ‘AI’ across business and industry really took off.
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You might be wondering about the inverted commas around AI in the previous sentence. Well, allow me to derail the flow of this Comment briefly and explain that that’s because what we’ve come to know as AI isn’t really AI in the true meaning of the name. It’s certainly artificial, but there’s no actual intelligence there. Tools like ChatGPT, whilst impressive and undeniably useful, remain incapable of actual comprehension, thought, or invention. They’re pattern finding algorithms feeding off data from the internet and reacting to user input, unlike the ‘true’ AI behind fictional entities like C3P0, HAL 9000, or even Skynet, which have their own sense of self.
OK, enough pedantry for now; back to the point – whilst what we know today as AI might not be about to start spouting ‘Cogito, ergo sum’ or develop a sense of existential dread (probably for the best, honestly), it still has huge potential for use across industry, being able to analyse thousands of data points at speeds far beyond human ability. And as much as we might laugh at ChatGPT’s gaffes or habit of ‘hallucinating’ answers, the big players across industry, including cement, are making serious investments into the technology.
Holcim, for example, has announced plans to scale up its use of AI across more than 100 of its plants around the world over the next four years. With AI already deployed at 45 plants to predict and prevent failures before they occur, the company plans to deepen and broaden this application to boost operational resilience. This will involve the further rolling out of a predictive maintenance solution from AI platform software provider C3 AI, as well as piloting generative AI to enhance its capabilities.
Holcim’s CEO, Miljan Gutovic, stated: “AI is a transformative technology that will revolutionise our industry. Already widely embedded across Holcim, AI catalyses operational efficiency and enhances customer service. We will ultimately scale up our use of AI to hundreds of sites worldwide.”
Cemex has also announced its use of a generative AI system to “transform how the salesforce interacts with clients by providing real-time support for a superior customer experience.” The development process involved training a Microsoft AI on Cemex’s product information and expertise in construction regulations. Cemex CEO, Fernando A. González, was equally enthusiastic about the role of AI: “Digital transformation is a top priority at Cemex, as we are continually looking for new digital solutions to innovate and drive more efficient, sustainable, and safer construction projects for our customers.”
Now, if you’d like to hear more about how AI and other cutting-edge technologies are shaping the cement industry, then you’ll be pleased to know that World Cement’s flagship virtual conference, Optimisation, is coming back for a fifth iteration on 22 October! Featuring Keynote Presentation from Molins’ Chief Technology Officer, Javier Sueiras, this is a fantastic opportunity to learn about the future of cement production.
Register today, free of charge: https://www.worldcement.com/events/optimisation-2024/
