In the world of industrial automation, artificial intelligence (AI) plays a growing role. At first glance it may not seem very ubiquitous, but that's because the AI technology is largely hidden from view--embedded within a device or software to give it new capabilities. Though we may not yet be using AI as depicted in science fiction movies, it's no longer a rare feature in automation technologies and we are interacting with it at an increasing rate. To understand what I mean, think about the all ways AI is being used in automation today, for example: Advantech's work with Nvidia to bring AI to its cloud and edge computing products, Aveva's incorporation of AI into its Asset Performance Management Suite, Epicor adding AI technology to its ERP software, Festo's combination of AI and pneumatics to aid human/robot interactions, HPE's addition of AI to many of its enterprise computing products, Omron's new controller for predictive maintenance applications, PTC adding AI to its CAD software, Siemens adding a neural processing module to its S7-1500 controller, and the enablement of new capabilities in industrial inspection drones. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it does help illustrate the breadth of AI's application across a variety of technologies used in the discrete manufacturing and processing industries.

Should you be worried about progress in Artificial Intelligence? Will Artificial Intelligence destroy jobs? Should we fear killer robots? Does Artificial Intelligence threaten our very existence? Artificial Intelligence (AI) is in the zeitgeist.