Many people, myself included, can find asking questions to be daunting. It fills us with worry and self-doubt, as though the act of being inquisitive is an all-too-public admission of our ignorance. Unfortunately, this can also lead us to find solace in answers -- no matter how shaky our understanding of the facts may be -- rather than risk looking stupid in front of others or even to ourselves. But once upon a time, we were all questing-asking savants. We started grilling our parents as toddlers, and by preschool, our epistemic inquiries plumbed the depths of science, philosophy, and the social order.

But as factories were forced to shut down with the rest of the country and lost access to the bulk of their workforce, manufacturers faced tremendous challenges to respond to fluctuating customer demands and social distancing mandates. By implementing technologies like AI, there is the potential to create new paradigm for the factory floor. Implementing AI in factories will not only reduce the risks to the human workforce, but will also allow employees of new and old generations alike to spend time collaborating on new ideas that will push the industry forward and prepare for the next crisis. I think that AI has the ability to rejuvenate manufacturing and create new opportunities that will be more attractive to today's young people. By leveraging AI and automation, we have the opportunity to make the manufacturing industry stronger than ever.

There has never been a greater need for innovation in the manufacturing industry. And to prepare the next generation of manufacturers, we need to look beyond higher education, and introduce resources and in-house training programs to help employees better understand how to work with AI. For example, we can leverage tools that make AI applicable and easy to use, for data scientists and non-AI experts alike. In doing so, we'll remove the barrier of needing an advanced degree – because we all know that takes time and money – so that every employee can feel good about using AI to help improve the production line. And critically, we're ensuring that people without advanced degrees won't be the ones penalized by the fourth industrial revolution.

The benefits of machine translation are easy to see and experience for ourselves, but those practical applications are only one part of what makes the technology valuable. Microsoft and the government of New Zealand are demonstrating the potential of translation tech to help preserve and hopefully breathe new life into the Māori language. Te reo Māori, as it is called in full, is of course the language of New Zealand's largest indigenous community. But as is common elsewhere as well, the tongue has fallen into obscurity as generations of Māori have assimilated into the dominant culture of their colonizers. Māori people make up about 15 percent of the population, and only a quarter of them speak the language, making for a grand total of 3 percent that speak te reo Māori.

Once upon a time, advertising was one of the most creative industries in the country. It was ruled by the Mad Men of Madison Avenue, whose imaginations and creativity were valued above all else. In today's age of big data and artificial intelligence (AI), however, the industry is now ruled by data scientists and numbers nerds. Some of this is for the better. Certainly, many functions in the advertising industry have benefited from AI. From bid rate management and budget allocation to programmatic targeting and A/B optimization, activities that require heavy data processing are now being done much faster and more effectively by machines.

In the face of growing workplace automation, a number of commentators have painted a grim future for American workers. But most human capital leaders see a much brighter future-- one where automation helps revitalize U.S. manufacturing and increases the demand for skilled workers. According to global talent management firm Randstad Sourceright's survey of over 400 corporate HR leaders, automation and robotics are likely to have a positive impact on U.S. business growth in 2017, and will be one of the driving forces behind new hiring trends over the next several years. Regardless of how you feel about robots, the move toward automation and artificial intelligence cannot be stopped. About 15 percent of global HR leaders say that robotics completely transformed their businesses in 2016, and more than double (31%) expect automation to have an even greater influence in 2017.