AUGUST 2024AEROSPACEDEFENSEREVIEW.COM8In My OpinionAN OPERATOR WALKS UP TO A MACHINE TOOLBy Paul Guerrier, Manufacturing Engineering Manager, MoogPerhaps one of my favorite jokes is "A horse walks into a bar," pause for dramatic effect, "Why the long face?"It is a great joke for so many reasons, coworker-friendly and kid-friendly being chief among them.A few months ago, I heard a vision of the future that reminded me of this joke. In this vision, "An Operator Walks up to a Machine Tool..." Once at the equipment interface, they then start to have a conversation with the equipment about today's schedule, how the current job for Customer X is going, if any G-code changes might be needed, how all of the 100 cutting tools are doing, and other work-related topics. At first, I frankly didn't see the vision. Amazon's Alexa is neat, but fairly often, you find yourself pretty frustrated, shouting at the device, wondering why it refuses to play the specific podcast/music you requested or, in a worse case, ordering something online for which you have no need.More recently, we started to investigate the benefits of Generative AI here at Moog Inc. It turns out that I now consider my initial reaction to be wrong (and, yes, just like everyone else, I am still getting used to the feeling). My understanding of the relevant technology, as well as the likely Paul Guerrier
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