Assofermet, the Italian association representing Italian distributors of scrap, raw materials and steel products, has hosted the Fall Convention of 2024 yesterday, September 26, in Milan, Italy. The main topic was the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to various industries, and how it can be transformed from a challenge to a resource.
Cinzia Vezzosi, president of Assofermet, opened the convention illustrating how big players are investing a lot in the development of AI technologies. According to Ms. Vezzosi, “The US invested $67 billion in AI in 2023, while China invested $8 billion and Europe has distributed a similar amount, over a span of five years. AI is still controversial from an ethical point of view, but we hope that enterprises approach this innovation transforming it into a powerful resource. If they can use it well, it can improve productivity and optimize business processes, making them more competitive”.
The convention was divided into two panels, during which geopolitical and technological development experts and consultants discussed about AI is being integrated in a changing and heterogeneous global scenario. The moderator was Giampaolo Rossi, CEO and founder of the Italian managerial lab La Fabbrica di Lampadine.
More specifically, the technologies presented by Giusi Fiorentino, CEO of AIM (Artificial Intelligence Monitoring), and those presented by Loris Busolini, R&D manager of Danieli Automation Group, can be of great support to steel companies.
The mission of AIM is developing AI-based softwares that help to monitor the health conditions of industrial machines, identifying potential malfunctions and indicating when they should be replaced before they could cause a system interruption.
The R&D manager of Italian plantmaker Danieli explained how AI systems can be applied to the production of EAF steel. “In the first phase,” said Busolini, “a smart system helps operators to identify non-processable objects so that they can be discarded. In the scrap yard phase, there are systems that help the operator in the classification of scrap according to the customer requests, and to define the right amount to be used in the furnace fueling. During the operational phase of the EAF, these dynamic models can predict the melting process behavior and suggest modifications that make it A) repeatable, and B) more efficient from an energetic, electrical and chemical point of view,” he concluded. In a nutshell, these systems help operators to monitor the overall situation of the plant and to make the right decisions in terms of efficiency optimization.
In addition to all these advantages, however, AI still has some improvement margins. As many of the speakers underlined, AI can enhance an already existing process, but it cannot innovate by itself, creativity remains a human prerogative. Gabriele Solarini Paviotti, account relationship leader and digital coordinator of the consulting firm Auxiell, stressed that AI systems cannot see business processes as a whole and thereby adapt them to variables such as energy costs.
If perplexities are on the one hand understandable from the companies’ point of view, especially in terms of data security, on the other hand the EU is preparing an ad-hoc law. “With this law we will monitor the application of regulations so that AI becomes an opportunity, at the same time protecting citizens and businesses. We aim to create a competitive context, in compliance with what Mario Draghi expressed in his report. Consumer protection is key to our scheme, which is different from the Chinese and US proposals,” said Brando Benifei, member of the European Parliament and responsible for the AI act, the European law on artificial intelligence.
To conclude, what emerged from the experts’ statements is that companies should embrace the innovations brought by these new technologies, because resisting is useless. “Innovation will always overcome tradition,” commented Giampaolo Rossi.