AI poised to transform the future, says GE exec

GE machine learning expert Colin Parris met with USA TODAY tech reporter Marco della Cava to talk about the coming age of AI. (Photo: Marco della Cava, USA TODAY) SAN FRANCISCO - Look for the so-called industrial Internet to reshape how machines are maintained, with one by-product of artificial intelligence being growing challenges in the employment sector. That's the opinion of Colin Parris, GE's vice president of software and analytics research, who joined USA TODAY Tech for a podcast Tuesday. Parris listed many ways in which powerful algorithms yoked to cloud computing will increasingly streamline the way devices such as airplane engines and off-shore oil rigs are maintained. But he adds that one likely byproduct will be less reliance on armies of human workers. So, he adds, "learning cycles will have to change. We think we learn (in our youth) and then stop," says Parris.