Fail early, fail often - a manufacturing mantra for an AI age

The application of AI in sectors such as retail and healthcare is already well charted, and will continue so to be, but other areas are set to be as important, such as manufacturing. A panel session at the recent Microsoft Future Decoded conference at London's ExCel Centre gave delegates a direct chance to ask questions, seek advice and challenge some of the myths about what AI can offer manufacturing industries. It has to be said from the outset that the panellists need some acknowledgement for their courage. Normally, such sessions start with some moderator-driven questions that break them in gently with relatively'soft' questions. Not this time: it was straight in with questions from the delegates.