Abstract
Today I am wondering about AI (Artificial Intelligence) and its future impact on our life and society. I get that it is a great tool that can simplify our lives, however at what price. AI data centers are proliferating, and many companies are competing for this future market. It is like plastic; it solves many problems and provides an improved quality of life. However, the AI data centers use vast amounts of water and electricity and put an undue strain on the existing infrastructure. Will we be able to control the negative aspects or will there be tremendous negative consequences. To be honest I struggle to put into words what we need to worry about. So, what did I do, I typed in the Duck AI search box “what are the downsides of AI” and this is the response.
AI can have several downsides, including biased algorithms that perpetuate discrimination, cybersecurity threats from malicious actors exploiting AI, and data privacy issues due to the vast amounts of data required for training AI models. Additionally, AI can lead to job displacement, lack of transparency in decision-making processes, and potential misuse for creating deepfakes and spreading misinformation.
Major Downsides of AI (1) Bias and Discrimination Biased Algorithms: AI systems can learn and perpetuate biases present in their training data, leading to unfair outcomes. This can result in discrimination in areas like hiring, healthcare, and law enforcement. Examples: Applicant tracking systems may favor certain demographics, while predictive policing tools can disproportionately target marginalized communities. (2) Cybersecurity Threats Exploitation by Malicious Actors: AI can be manipulated to conduct cyberattacks, such as creating deepfakes or phishing scams. Impact: These threats can compromise personal data, identity security, and organizational integrity. (3) Data Privacy Issues Vast Data Requirements: AI models often require large amounts of data, raising concerns about how this data is collected and used. Risks: The potential for breaches and misuse of personal information is significant, especially with sensitive data. (4) Job Displacement Automation of Jobs: AI can replace human roles, particularly in repetitive or low-skill jobs, leading to unemployment and economic disruption. Future Workforce: The transition may require significant planning and support for affected workers. (5) Lack of Transparency Decision-Making Processes: Many AI systems operate as “black boxes,” making it difficult to understand how decisions are made. Consequences: This lack of transparency can erode trust and accountability in AI applications. (6) Misuse of Technology Deepfakes and Misinformation: AI can be used to create convincing fake content, which can mislead the public and disrupt social order. Potential for Harm: This misuse can lead to chaos in political contexts or damage reputations in business.
Notice that there was no mention of the negative environmental aspects. There needs to be more scrutiny over the rapid expansion of AI-related data centers and their potential impact on energy grids, natural resources, and consumer utility bills.
This issue contains the Statistician’s Corner, Industry News and four (4) original articles.
The Regulatory Expert Corner is missing in this issue, hopefully it will return to the next issue.
The Statistician’s Corner, by Mark J. Anderson focuses on “Graphical Tools to Reveal Experimental Results at a Glance”. He presents a view that statistics is more than just numbers and that graphs provide an extremely useful way to diagnose response-modeling abnormalities.
The Industry News section begins with some notable upcoming conferences.
Then the Process Safety section has: • Three recent Chemical Safety Board bulletins. • U.S. Chemical Safety Board New Safety Video on the Low Pressure, Fatal Consequence: Explosion at Yenkin-Majestic Resin Plant Vapor Cloud Explosion and Fire • U.S. Chemical Safety Board New Safety Video on the Fatal Combustible Dust Explosions and Fires at Didion Milling in Cambria, Wisconsin
And the Other News section covers items deemed to be relevant to the plastic film and sheet community. The other news section has information on: • KHS SUPREME PET bottle for oxygen-sensitive beverages using their Plasmax barrier technology. • Ocean Cleanup progress
We have four original articles.
The first paper “Design of biodegradable and antimicrobial PLA-based films incorporating banana waste cellulose and LAE for active food packaging is by Cristian Patiño Vidal, Cristina Tuapantaa, Cristina Muñoz-Shugulíb, Marcelo Patiño Vidalb, Johana López-Polod, Manon Guivere, and María José Galottof. They worked on developing polylactic acid (PLA) based biodegradable packaging materials. Their strategy was to counteract the dependence of plastics derived on fossil sources and to exploit agrifood waste with added antimicrobial properties. They extracted cellulose from banana rachises via alkaline treatment. They suggest potentially using these bioplastics for food industry applications as an ecofriendly solution to prevent microbial contamination.
Our second paper “Mass-Mapped Cascade Control for Cross-Direction Thickness Uniformity in Biaxially Oriented Film Processes is by Varma Raju Sagi Venkatapathi. Venkatapathi deals with the issue that a central complication for biaxially oriented films is that the finished-film CD profile is not a spatially fixed image of the upstream cast profile. Nonuniform stretching, relaxation, and trimming distort the spatial relationship between die-lip actuators and finished-film measurements, making conventional CD feedback control slow and sensitive to mapping error. He presents an advanced process control strategy that integrates a physics-based mass mapping framework with a cascade profile-control architecture to improve CD uniformity and transient performance in biaxially oriented film manufacturing. His roach improves start-up and break recovery, disturbance rejection, and steady-state CD thickness uniformity across changing products and operating conditions.
The third paper “Impact of multiple extrusion on LLDPE cast stretch film performance in pallet wrapping” is by Bram Bamps, Lore Gielkens, Paula Varas Perez, Mieke Buntinx, Felix Fischbeck, and Wouter Marchal. Their study investigates the impact of multiple extrusion cycles on film quality via a controlled closed-loop recycling approach. This is important to understand as the upcoming European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) mandates at least 35% post-consumer recyclate in non-food packaging by 2030, increasing to 65% by 2040.
The fourth paper “Nanolayer Coextrusion of Amorphous and Semi-Crystalline Polymers for Enhanced Thermal and Mechanical Properties is by Zahidul Wahab, Kevin Hughes, Jacob Landry, and Michael Ponting. They provide examples of how nanolayered cast films can improve properties versus blending techniques. Their examples uses either a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) or a PPS (polyphenylene sulfide) combined with high Tg COC (cyclic olefin copolymer) support layers in a multilayer cast extrusion using layer multiplying coextrusion to produce nanolayered cast films. The results demonstrate leveraging polymer processing techniques to enable advanced high temperature performance of commercial polymer materials without the need for additives or additional polymer chain modifications enabling more rapid scaling to industrial adoption.
I am repeating this thought as I feel it is so relevant. It is ascribed to many sources and supports the idea the violence is not a solution to violence: “Victory breeds hatred for the conquered are unhappy”.
And a final quote: “Die Wahrheit läβt sich auf die Dauer nicht verfälschen, es gibt nichts Unerbittlicheres als die Tatsachen.” “The truth is not distorted by time; there is nothing as relentless as the facts.” --Ernst Thalmann
To submit a paper, go to: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jpfs