“When equipment costs millions per day to use, you always look for ways to increase efficiency, to make informed decisions, and to avoid human error. AI will contribute to this,” says Søren Øydna, SVP Digital Solutions at HMH in Kristiansand.
Starting with prototypes in 2017, HMH has built knowledge and experience with AI for almost a decade. Nowadays, AI is always part of the conversations with clients.
“AI is maturing into a useful tool that will play a major part in various industries, including our industry. Everyone wants to know more about AI and how it can help improve operations,” says Øydna.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS FOR AI
While most of us have experienced how AI can produce texts, images, songs and more, the industrial use of AI is expected to have a much greater impact on societal development.
“Based on the fast development within AI, we believe there is a huge potential and lots of applications that we still have not come to think of,” says Øydna.
As of now – in general – AI provides advice while humans make the final decisions.
“Based on great improvements in text generation and computing power, AI is already used to support decision-making by comprising and aggregating data from existing documents, e-mails and other written sources. Although the output must be interpreted and confirmed by humans, it remains a powerful tool if made well,” says Frode Jensen, Product Owner Digitalization at HMH.
ACCESS TO DATA IS PIVOTAL
Structured data is vital for succeeding with artificial intelligence, but data can be hard to come by.
“The two key questions when contemplating a project are always: Will it add value to our customers, and do we have the necessary data?”, says Jensen.
“Compared to other industries, we have very few units. While Tesla can collect data from millions of cars, we have data from only a few hundred drilling systems. It is also challenging to get access to all data from a system, as it involves products from several suppliers. If we could have access to third party data that would help immensely,” says Jensen.
HMH has recruited AI experts and educated its own staff within the field.
“We also have a strong connection to Cognite and Microsoft for more specific AI expertise,” says Øydna.
