Technology is advancing at the speed of light, and achievements now considered commonplace couldn’t even have been imagined a few decades ago. This is especially true of artificial intelligence (AI), which used to merely be a subject for imaginative science fiction authors. Today, artificial intelligence is becoming ingrained into everyday life, and its next stop could be the packaging industry.
Is the Technology Ready?
Siri has become one of the most popular means of artificial intelligence thanks to its voice recognition abilities. With just one click of a button, any iPhone user can say, “Hey Siri, what is the weather going to be today?” and receive an accurate answer. Many packaging industry experts are excited and intrigued by the potential to use voice activation to manage packaging machinery. However, the idea isn’t without its obstacles.
To begin, the noise found around machinery could prevent voice activation from working unless the technology was developed to recognize individual voices in noisy environments. Furthermore, safety is a major issue in packaging plants, especially in pharmaceutical plants where a log must be made of every single person who has made any change to the system. As one packaging expert pointed out, “If I can tell something to the machine by voice, it might not be so safe because voice is not like a digital fingerprint or a security card. Anybody could tell something to the machine. So voice activation on a packaging machine is a possibility but there are security and technical challenges to be solved.”
Many other industry CEOs echo those same sentiments. From sensitive packaging line products to extremely loud surroundings, artificial intelligence generates as many obstacles as it does benefits. Despite the success of Siri, Alexa, and other widely used AI technologies, the packaging industry is not ready to immediately integrate artificial intelligence.
Right now, most manufacturers are focused on maximizing efficiency with the best and most reliable machines. Econocorp, Inc. is a recognized worldwide leader in cartoning, tray forming, and casepacking for moderate and lower production volumes. Call (781) 986-7500 today to learn more and discover the packaging solutions your company needs.