I am currently in the process of moving house. While this is a stressful life event, there’s not normally much to report: Pick up the keys, move your stuff over, notify everyone of your new address and put the kettle on. The stress mainly happens before the actual move.
The Last Word
How will AI affect the building materials industries?
There are already many forms of artificial intelligence (AI) in the world today. Weak or narrow AI is a kind of machine-based expertise that is focused on a single or very narrow range of tasks. This is already very widely available. Siri and Alexa might be thought of as weak AI, although they are already sophisticated compared to achievements only a decade ago1: they combine speech recognition and natural language processing to ‘understand’ what you are asking them. They then have a set of capabilities that they can act upon (such as making a call, setting an alarm or ordering flowers for Mother’s Day on the internet).
What will the world and industries look like in 50 years’ time?
What will the global gypsum and insulation industries look like in 50 years’ time (in 2068)? Let’s take a look at some current trends and extend them into the future to see what our world will look like then.
Why do we do the things we do?
I make no apologies for writing this column on a subject that has nothing to do with gypsum, insulation or any other building material: Occasionally, I do go ‘off-topic.’ Sometimes, it’s useful to stand back so that you can see the bigger picture. In fact, we should probably all do it more often.
What would you do if you were ‘governor’ of a wallboard plant for a week?
I am enjoying ‘Don Quixote’ by Cervantes, even though it’s a massive book - I’m now 900 pages in, of a 950 page book. In particular, I’ve enjoyed the part where the apparent simpleton and uneducated rustic squire Sancho Panza is gifted the governorship of an ‘isle’ (it is in fact an isolated village). Rather than completely mess it up as everyone expects, he turns out to be a governor of rare sagacity and wisdom. He lasts only a week before his rumbling tummy makes him give up his post to return to his master, the knight-errant Don Quixote de la Mancha, the Knight of the Sad Countenance. Reading the book, it made me wonder, what would one do if you were made a gypsum wallboard plant manager for a week - ‘governor of your own isle’? This question might be moot, if you already hold that exalted position. However, if the magic wand suddenly made you ‘The Boss,’ what would you do?
