Unknown to many, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device in a hospital and a professional coffee machine in a cafe may have one thing in common today – they both feed data to AI to pre-empt a breakdown.
Everything that goes on in these connected machines can be recorded, analysed and sent to an AI to “learn” so that they can automatically resolve any issues in future.
A coffee machine, for example, may track indicators such as temperature, to detect a potential issue that is developing. By having the issue fixed early, a breakdown can be prevented so a cafe continues serving its espresso.
Being able to remotely access a machine also means technicians don’t have to travel long distances to fix simple issues that could be fixed without being on-site.
One company that is behind such technology, TeamViewer, is betting that it will enable a future where machine failures are a rarity that is easily preventable.
Indeed, some of this change is happening now. More than 600,000 customers are using the company’s remote control software, which enables them to connect to devices that range from a PC to an MRI machine.
Most of these customers are not subscribed to the new self-healing AI service but TeamViewer wants to change that. It provides the software that records machine telemetry and sells a service to customers to use the data to pre-empt issues on their machines.
The AI doesn’t work alone – it still needs the institutional knowledge of human operators so it knows what to do, said Oliver Steil, the chief executive officer of TeamViewer.
Plus, in cases such as healthcare, the data that is connected has to be protected stringently, he added.
Speaking to Techgoondu in Singapore recently, he said the aim is to make the management of such devices more proactive, and eventually to make maintenance more predictive – before problems happen.
Crucially, AI is changing the way people work, and not just in the way that has been imagined, he argued.
For many skilled and experienced workers, AI still has ways to catch up to execute a task with the same efficiency, he noted.
These skills are not always common, even as companies such as manufacturers turn to robots to do a lot of simpler tasks, where speed is more essential, say, picking out items on a production line.
A skills gap happens because there are a lot of senior workers with so much experience but there isn’t a line of younger ones picking them up.
One way to attract new workers is by bringing in technology such as augmented reality (AR) to make learning more interactive and rewarding, according to TeamViewer.
This way, a worker who is relatively new on the job at a factory can learn as he works through a day, with instruction provided through an interactive pair of AR glasses.
The instruction could come pre-programmed or AI-assisted or a it could be from a more experienced colleague connecting in remotely to guide a user along.
Ultimately, what will make new technologies such as AI or AR succeed is people actually using them, rather than a mandate from management, said Steil.
If you force a skilled worker who knows his job well enough without AR glasses to use the glasses, he will develop fatigue towards the technology, he noted.
“For the technology to be a success, you have to make sure it does work and it is constantly used by workers,” he stressed.
In a move to “shift left” 18 months ago, TeamViewer moved from one that is focused on offering remote desktop access to computers to one that sells the technology for AI-driven maintenance.
However, Steil said the remote management part of the business is still “big” and the “basis we grow from”.
The footprint is also growing, he noted, adding that the company supports customers that pay a few hundred euros for its remote desktop product and big enterprises that spend millions with it. “We cover both.”
