Imagine AI so smart that it creates its own AI, which in turn becomes even smarter. They then create things, so advanced, that we humans cannot even imagine. Not impossible in the future, says Hugo, Rollco's software engineer, who specialises in AI. AI is a topic that fascinates and affects us and is becoming an increasingly larger part of our lives.
Hugo – specialised in AI
Rollco's latest addition, Hugo, is a newly graduated civil engineer in computer technology, specialising in artificial intelligence. At the age of 25, he has just completed a five-year education at Halmstad University. During his training, Hugo has learned, among other things, how to build an AI from scratch. Hugo tells us that programming is not only his job but also his biggest hobby and something he spends a large part of his free time on.
He works at Rollco mostly remotely as he lives in Varberg, but one week a month he works on-site at the office in Helsingborg. Something that he thinks works very well.
Since OpenAI launched Chat GPT in 2022 and AI became available to everyone, many people encounter AI in some way in their daily lives. The uses for AI can seem endless; smart search engines, image generation, translation services, voice assistants and much more.
Artificial intelligence is a subject that interests, fascinates and that sometimes feels a bit scary. We want to know more!
Smarter product configurators for Rollco's customers
One of Hugo's tasks is to develop and implement Rollco's CAD configurators on the company's website. They need to be synchronised with the entire product range and with the company's business system.
– We constantly strive to make our product and CAD configurators smarter, says Hugo. Right now, we are also working on integrating them with a customer portal
AI as drawing reviewer and technical advisor
We ask Hugo if he can think of any operations at Rollco that can be facilitated by AI in the future?
– Absolutely, there is! Making it easier for our customers to find the right solution on our website is something that I will immediately think about. Rollco has a fairly wide range, of many similar products. What is the difference between different types of linear rail guides? How can we help the customer? Instead of putting a human on the job, you can train AI to do this. By teaching an AI to interpret our customers' input, e.g. load, speed and environment, and then match it against the data on our website, the AI can suggest the best solution for the customer's needs.
Can you program an AI to ask counter-questions, to have a discussion with the customer?
– Yes, but of course, only the imagination sets limits when it comes to AI, replies Hugo.
Another thing that I will think about is reviewing drawings. Simply check to make sure no measurements or anything else is missing. Today, this work task is often performed manually by a human and there is a risk that it will sometimes go wrong. If you teach an AI to do this in the right way, you also minimize the risk of possible errors, says Hugo.
AI that creates AI that creates solutions beyond our understanding…
How do you think AI will be used in the future?
– It's next to impossible to say, that's how it is with all technology. Maybe it is a tool that will help us create solutions and things that are even better than today. In a few decades, you won't know what has been created. AI is getting smarter and smarter all the time, eventually it will learn to create its own AI. They, in turn, will be so smart that they create new things that we cannot even understand. But then we have gone quite far into the future, says Hugo and laughs.
The biggest limitation of AI today is the amount of data available. AI is not yet at the level where it can create something that doesn't already exist. It always needs some point of reference. When it develops past this and becomes creative in a different way, then anything can happen, says Hugo and laughs again.
So, what does Chat GPT have to say about the matter? We asked: Do you think AI will be able to create its own AI soon? And got the answer;
"That AI would create AI that is radically smarter than human ability or understanding - a kind of exponential AI development - is probably further down the line. The technology still has limitations in terms of creativity and thinking ‘outside the box’ because today's AI needs clear instructions and input.
So, while AI can help design and optimize AI systems already, we are still far from a situation where AI is completely autonomously creating something that is far beyond our own capacity or understanding.”
