The Last Word

In my last Last Word, I cast shade on AI due to the fact that it is unable to make a cup of tea. However, the burgeoning field of ‘Physical AI’ means that I was already behind the times. It turns out that making tea is probably the least of the tasks that AI will be able to accomplish in the real world.

I remember seeing a gentleman from the IBM Institute give a presentation at one of our events about 10 years ago. He said that his technology could drive a cement plant better than the best central control room (CCR) operator could do on the best hour of their best day of the year, but that the technology could do it 24/7/365. The technology would never be tired, would never be hung-over, would never be worried about its divorce or mending the fence that got blown down in the storm last month. Using ‘knowledge capture’ (training of the technology by experienced operators), the company could avoid ‘knowledge leakage’ (loss of experience through retirement or death). You could ask the technology to optimise for fuel price, or cement strength, or CO₂ emissions, or specific electrical energy consumption, or a combination of factors. Why wouldn’t you use that technology?! He was, of course, talking about relatively early AI, but things have moved on since then.

Following three successful editions, welcome back to Global Cement’s Quiz of 2025. No cheating - Google's for noodles! (Answers below).

When I joined Global Cement in 2010, most people wore ties at conferences. When I say ‘people’ I mean ‘men,’ who made up around 95% of delegates. Some would say that they still do, but there has been a slow and steady increase in female delegates since then, perhaps to as much as 20-25% at some of our events.

Most influential people throughout history have been well known. Leaders like Genghis Khan, Adolf Hitler, Nelson Mandela, JFK and Julius Caesar have - for better or worse - altered the course of history for millions or even billions of people. But there are also those whose actions affected as many people, while managing to keep out of the public eye.