Las Vegas; Tuesday 17th Jan. 12.00
Two hours to go for the opening of EFI’s Connect 2017 Worldwide Users Conference at the Wynn in Las Vegas. There are more than 1500 industry professionals expected here; workflow and MIS types, inkjet printers and those looking to explore the burgeoning industrial and packaging print applications. Notably, they‘re mostly paying customers, stumping up the entry costs as well as the not inconsiderable charges to stay at the luxurious Wynn. They’re here to learn at the numerous break-out sessions that are the real business of these two and a half days.
It says a lot about the advanced technology that EFI trades in that the industry is prepared to treat Connect as a genuine learning experience, worth paying for. It’s a long way from the normal manufacturer-sponsored free flights and accommodation packages that usually lure printers to corporate events.
Guy Gecht, the charismatic CEO, is the opening speaker at 2.00pm. I met him waiting for coffee half an hour ago. “Under no pressure?” He laughed at my question about the ‘billion dollar man’ from a few years ago. EFI is sailing past that mark this year, a couple of months later than predicted.
Looking forward to hearing what he has to say.
Later on he's 'chatting' on stage with Jeff Jacobson, Xerox CEO who's now in charge of his own newly spun off company. As one of EFI's largest customers for Fiery RIPs, there'll be good information to be had, if they go there.
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Las Vegas yesterday in chilly bright sunshine on Martin Luther King Jnr Day is as puzzling to me as ever. The ‘capital of distraction,’ is all show business, with the A-list of entertainers beaming down from massive illuminated screens. Willie Nelson, Celine Dion, Van Morrison, Elton John, they’re all coming – but later in the year. January in Vegas is conference and exhibition season. Flights in are full, hotels overflowing with delegates to everything from the Concrete Manufacturers, to the Gem Show and the Adult Entertainment Expo. At this level, EFI Connect doesn’t make it onto the radar, not enough delegates.
One mention and then we’re done. The media everywhere is filled with Friday’s upcoming presidential inauguration. Across the road the Trump tower stands in its own desert block, just off the famed Strip. He had a hard time getting his foot in to Vegas., still doesn't have a casino licence. Maybe things will be different now. Once he's President Pmurt.
Las Vegas; Tuesday 17th Jan. 16.00
Artificial Intelligence stars at Connect 2017
Four technology revolutions in the past 30 years have changed the world more than the original industrial revolution. This is the starting point for Guy Gecht’s opening presentation at Connect. In front of a packed hall of nearly 1500 delegates, including 100 media representatives, he ranged far and wide in the visionary style that has become a hallmark of Connect. He identified the revolutions as:
- Personal Computers in 1980s
- Development of the internet in 1990s
- Arrival of the iPhone as the start of the mobile life in 2007
- And now… the increasing speed of the development of artificial intelligence (AI).
He maintains the AI revolution is being ever more powered by the massive increase in computational capability in the cloud along with the development of ever more powerful computers. Gecht recalled his days at university in Israel when the arrival of such functions as text identification seemed light years away. He picked the developmental milestones of events such as Gary Kasparov’s initial victory and then defeat by IBM’s Deep Blue chess-playing computer in the 1996 and the 2011 victory of computers over the champion Jeopardy contestants as indicative of the increasing self-learning ability of computers that is defining AI.
Now he points to self-driving cars developed by companies such as Tesla and Google as a sign of how close is the arrival of fully-fledged AI.
This has little to do with the printing industry, or indeed with EFI. But it’s Gecht’s enthusiasm for the visionary that has always fuelled Connect. A total fan, he’s puzzled that what to him seems a self-evident good should raise such concerns among people he respects. Elon Musk, the inventor of the Tesla electric car, cautions, “We need to be super careful with AI. Potentially more dangerous than nukes.”
Mega-brain, Stephen Hawkins regards it as the development, “that could spell the end of the human race.” Even the mild-mannered Bill Gates sounds a note of alarm. “First the machines will do a lot of jobs for us and be super intelligent. A few years after that though, the intelligence will be strong enough to be a concern.”
In a series of surveys he conducted, Gecht discovered that people share the same distrust of AI and such developments as self-driving cars. Many are concerned that AI would be used destructively by anti-social elements.
Less jobs, more machines
After making it clear that EFI has no intention, nor the money, to buy AI developers, Gecht confirmed the company was developing its own versions for the printing industry. He gave the example of software scheduling replacing skilled and experienced people. The key was that the software learned from the behaviour of the individuals before becoming capable of doing a better job.
Automation in production is another example of where the machines are taking over. A Maltese company, Lewis, increased its on time deliveries by 30% while cutting labour by 50% using the EFI Packaging Suite.
Outside the printing industry he told of how in 1990 Ford, Chrysler and General Motors had combined revenues of $250 billion with a market cap of $36 billion and employed 1.2 million people. In 2014 Apple, Facebook and Google have revenues of $247 billion, a market cap of $1+ trillion and employ a mere 137,000 people.
The point he’s making is that the next revolution is here already. That the printing industry is not immune to its effects and that we’re all going to have to develop change management skills to cope with the ‘Next Big Thing.’
Click here for Day 2: Fireside Chats