JULY 2025AEROSPACEDEFENSEREVIEW.COM8In My OpinionAN OPERATOR WALKS UP TO A MACHINE TOOLBy Paul Guerrier, Manufacturing Engineering Manager, Moog Inc. [NYSE: MOG-A]Perhaps 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, worse, ordering something online that you do not 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 Paul Guerrier
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