Radwell International’s Blog

Artificial intelligence can have a great impact on the modern warehouse in terms of safety, productivity, and accuracy. What is artificial intelligence and where does it fit in a warehouse environment? The definition of artificial intelligence, according to IBM, is “a field, which combines computer science and robust datasets, to enable problem-solving. It also encompasses sub-fields of machine learning and deep learning, which are frequently mentioned in conjunction with artificial intelligence. These disciplines are comprised of AI algorithms which seek to create expert systems which make predictions or classifications based on input data.” Ideally, AI is comprised of systems that think and act rationally.

Here are a few of the many AI functions that can have a positive effect on warehouse operations:

A type of robot growing in popularity in the industrial manufacturing industry is called a cobot, otherwise known as a collaborative robot. The reason for the growing popularity of cobots is their ability to work side by side with human operators to accomplish a task. With ever expanding technology, many fear it will make human workers obsolete. Robots are one of the top concerns. However, when it comes to cobots, they have one great difference from traditional industrial robots. Their design purpose is to work productively alongside humans. This will obviously have the benefit of human labor still required and an advanced form of technology assisting in the job process. Nobody wants to see human labor become obsolete. This is why more and more manufacturing operations are making use of cobots, as they integrate automation systems.

As automation capability continues to grow and strengthen in the workplace, many are wondering if humans will be left out in the cold when it comes to employment. It seems that people and experts sit on  both sides of the fence in this argument. Some believe, with absolute certainty, that robots will take over up to 30% of jobs currently performed by humans within the next ten years. Others feel it is unlikely that robots will be able to evolve quickly enough to emulate humans in the most important way: our ability to respond to other humans. Still others believe that robots and humans will work together to make the process of manufacturing a team-oriented and more efficient exercise. Each of the view points is fairly compelling and it will be interesting to see which viewpoint holds the most merit as the decade progresses.