Slashdot Mirror
Miners Say They Dig AI But the Gold Rush Hasn't Come (wsj.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: The chairman of Barrick Gold Corp made a bold prediction in late 2017: With the help of artificial intelligence and other digital tools, the world's largest gold miner would become a technology company that just happened to be in mining. A year later, Barrick has parted ways with its chief innovation officer, chief digital officer and many of the team tasked with making this transformation a reality, according to people familiar with the matter.
The revolution in machine learning, as predicted by Barrick Chairman John Thornton and other mining executives, has yet to come. Miners have said digital technologies like artificial intelligence, or AI, will revolutionize one of the world's oldest industries in the same way it has changed other businesses, from retail to hailing a cab. Some experts say the promise of AI in mining has been overhyped and progress has been slow. Companies, including Barrick and giants such as Rio Tinto and BHP Group, are running some AI-led projects. But implementation at some companies has hit cultural hurdles. Executives haven't always engaged, projects have taken longer than expected and companies have turned to other ways to modernize operations.
The revolution in machine learning, as predicted by Barrick Chairman John Thornton and other mining executives, has yet to come. Miners have said digital technologies like artificial intelligence, or AI, will revolutionize one of the world's oldest industries in the same way it has changed other businesses, from retail to hailing a cab. Some experts say the promise of AI in mining has been overhyped and progress has been slow. Companies, including Barrick and giants such as Rio Tinto and BHP Group, are running some AI-led projects. But implementation at some companies has hit cultural hurdles. Executives haven't always engaged, projects have taken longer than expected and companies have turned to other ways to modernize operations.
They already have good data, and well-developed statistical methods for processing it.
Most of which was thought of as AI research back in the 80's. Schlumberger, (among many others) were bringing together advances in signal processing and "AI" to figure out where oil deposits were back then. All of this was supposedly "whiz bang" crap by the haters of the day, but these techniques (and their much better heirs) are just used today. Two morals of this story: (a) Don't be so skeptical about a field that under-delivers on its ultimate goals, but seems to spin off scads of useful technology in the process of reaching for it; (b) Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it.
That is all.