Podcast: CNHI provides an update on agricultural automation

 

In Episode 138 of The Robot Report Podcast, co-hosts Mike Oitzman and Eugene Demaitre catch up with Marc Kermisch, global chief digital and information officer at CNH Industrial, or CNHI. Kermisch takes us through the latest developments at CNHI in agriculture autonomy and digitization, explaining how robots and data can help farmers and growers improve yields and efficiency.

We also recap the latest robotics news and walk through an update from robotics and automation companies that attended this month’s 2024 CES show.

News of the week

    • Locus Robotics layoffs
      • The mobile robot maker last week confirmed that it had a “small, targeted RIF,” or reduction in force.
      • North American robot orders dropped last year, according to the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). Warehouse construction also declined by 25% in 2023, reported Interact Analysis, but demand for mobile robots did increase.
      • While relatively few robot providers shut down last year, the AMR space faced challenges. For example, Shopify sold 6 River Systems to Ocado at a loss.
      • We’ve gotten confirmation of layoffs at more companies, and we wish the best to those affected by such actions. Resources for job seekers include RoboticsCareer.orgRoboticsJobs.com, Robots.Jobs, and The Apprenticeship Playbook.
    • Recent humanoid announcements
    • General AgTech news in addition CNHI:
    • New MIT CSAIL study
      • A new study from MIT CSAIL, MIT Sloan, The Productivity Institute, and IBM’s Institute for Business Value provided more insight into how artificial intelligence could affect the job market. Its findings challenge the common belief that AI will put vast numbers of people out of work.
        • The study found that only about 23% of wages paid for tasks involving vision systems are economically viable for AI automation.
        • If development, deployment, and running costs decline, and the industry transforms to provide AI systems as a service, businesses could adopt AI more quickly, the researchers noted. All of these things lower the cost of investment for companies to deploy AI, making the technology more financially viable. This could lead to more rapid changes in the job market.
        • With more AI systems in place in the workforce, jobs could open up to maintain those systems, it said. As some jobs are automated, businesses will need more people to manage, maintain, and improve AI and robotics.

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Written by

Mike Oitzman

Mike Oitzman is Senior Editor of WTWH's Robotics Group, cohost of The Robot Report Podcast, and founder of the Mobile Robot Guide. Oitzman is a robotics industry veteran with 25-plus years of experience at various high-tech companies in the roles of marketing, sales and product management. He can be reached at moitzman@wtwhmedia.com.