Page 48 - Plastics News Issue September2025

FEATURE NEWS
and virtual reality, are attractive to the younger
generation and can be a safer approach for in-
troducing new employees to production equip-
ment. “The integration of AI also opens up new
career paths within manufacturing,” writes Bi-
rand. “Roles such as AI specialists, data scien-
tists and robotics engineers are becoming in-
creasingly vital in the sector. These positions
offer competitive salaries and opportunities for
continuous learning and growth, making manu-
facturing a more attractive long-term career op-
tion for skilled graduates.”
5. AI Costs: Caveat Emptor
As with any technology, figuring out the cost of a
new tool like AI requires factoring in several are-
as of expense. There is hardware (including very
specialized graphics processing units) and soft-
ware, the cost of data models and their storage
and management, and the cost to custom-train
models (wherein enormous amounts of comput-
ing energy are required). There is the cost of
ethical and regulatory compliance – areas that
still are under development. For all of the above,
there is the cost of skilled personnel – who do
not come cheap. For an idea of costs shouldered
by some of the biggest brand names in the busi-
ness, a Time Magazine article, “The Billion-Dollar
Price Tag of Building AI,” states this: “Microsoft
and OpenAI are reportedly planning to build a
$100 billion supercomputer to build and run AI
models.” 7 And the cost for computing power
is growing exponentially. Per the Time Magazine
article, “The researchers found that the cost of
the computational power required to train the
models is doubling every nine months.” While a
manufacturer contemplating the implementation
of AI likely will purchase a cloud-based subscrip-
tion or possibly an edge-based customized sys-
tem with an industry-specific dataset, it is help-
48 PLASTICS NEWS
ful to understand where those seemingly high
subscription or installation fees ultimately derive.
Artificial intelligence systems are relatively new
computerized innovations; they have not en-
tered the “economy of scale” period for a prod-
uct or service. For some perspective, John Mark
Suhy likens the AI landscape to the Wild West in
the article “The true cost of AI: 6 factors govern-
ment agencies should consider.” 8 “The current
landscape of AI mirrors the early, tumultuous
days of the Wild West,” writes Suhy, “– a period
of exploration and untapped potential. As the
US government navigates this new frontier, the
costs associated with AI projects are expected
to be historically high, reminiscent of the early
days of the internet or the space race. During
these periods, initial investments were substan-
tial as technologies were in their infancy, stand-
ards were non-existent and the path forward
was unclear.”
Artificial Intelligence: Lots of Input, Lots of
Output, Lots of Smarts
Generative AI can create huge volumes of out-
put, offering users a smorgasbord of creative
ideas to weigh. Artificial intelligence can tease
patterns or trends from massive collections of
data. It can identify novel ways to combine ex-
isting ideas, designs and technologies. AI also
can serve as an objective judge of new plans
for products or services. It can imagine demand
scenarios and predict future demand. It can be
an aid to the quality control team or replace the
team entirely for standardized, repetitive quality
inspections. Artificial intelligence can make man-
ufacturing jobs more attractive to the technolo-
gy-savvy generation of young adults.
Source – Plastics Business
September 2025