The Quinte Economic Development Commission discussed artificial intelligence related to the manufacturing sector during its meeting on Thursday.
The conversation around artificial intelligence, or AI, stemmed from a recap of a panel discussion and event back on January 20 that was hosted by the Quinte Manufacturers Association.
Panelists Dave Bowland of BCS Automation, Garry Shortt of Domtech, Sarah Wolters of The Machining Center, and Ken Morris of Proof Works AI Consulting discussed AI’s implementation in the manufacturing sector ranging from predictive maintenance, quality control and digital twins, to generative AI tools supporting documentation, training, and workflow optimization.
Speaking to the Commission, CEO Chris King said one of the examples that was given during the presentation showed AI helped a manufacturer save 300 hours in work annually by accelerating analysis, reporting and documentation.
“People think about AI as can I write a better email now or a better letter, but they’re using it for things like predictive maintenance and operational efficiency or even for quoting and costing on projects, or making sure they’re in compliance with regulations and using AI, and for all those types of things,” King explained.
“Really well attended, and I think it just opened the eyes for a lot of manufacturers in terms of how they could dip their toe in the water to start using AI.”
Quinte West councillor David O’Neill asked King if the Commision had received inquiries from AI companies to set up shop in the Quinte region.
King said there had not been any direct inquiries from AI companies, there has been some inquiries about AI data centres.
“Some of those data centres, they almost look like a sea container where they’re outdoor, they’re on a bed of gravel, so it’s not paying taxes, providing very little jobs. But there’s other ones that go inside buildings, and there’s workers, and those are the ones that we’re trying to focus on.”
