Q: What is your organisation’s role in XMANAI?

A: POLIMI is leading WP1 (Scientific Foundations) especially addressing Human Factors in the interaction with AI-based Autonomous Systems. The Collaborative Intelligence paradigm from Harvard Business Research will be applied, modelled in the industrial pilots, so that to become validated as a reference method for the whole “AI for Manufacturing” domain.

The conceptual work in WP1 will be then materialised by POLIMI in T6.2 where pilots will be assessed through a set of KPIs including not just business metrics bit also social and societal ones; in T7.2 where new business models essentially based on servitisation will be studied and modelled according to the multi-stakeholder Business Model Navigator method; in T7.4 where replicability of the “AI for Manufacturing” pilots will be addressed and in T8.5 where policy and standardisation contributions in the field of Human-AI interaction will be developed

Q: How does XMANAI relate with your or your team’s background and interests?

A: Manufacturing Group of the School of Management (SOM) at Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering of Politecnico di Milano is engaged in the last years in developing multiple research areas related with XMANAI project. First of all the study of human role in manufacturing processes aiming to optimize and make it safer and healthier. Another area encompass different aspects related with maturity of Advanced and Sustainable Manufacturing environments and identification, deployment and assessment of related indicators. The team is also involved in multiple national and international entities and initiatives where it plays role for counseling and standardization.

Q: What is the novelty of XMANAI and the main benefits envisaged for your organization?

A: While Artificial Intelligence is a concept and a technology that is broadly recognized, event in Manufacturing domain, real acceptance by operators and decision makers is an area requiring further research and here XMANAI can provide real benefits both as platform, assets, and methodologies.

Q: Which target groups can benefit from XMANAI?

A: Specifically for Politecnico di Milano team, from the educational perspective we plan to include outcomes from XMANAI in our training and research activities, contributing to spread in new engineers better awareness and knowledge about AI benefits for industry. More, being part of multiple Technology Transfer initiative, mainly for SMEs, we can expect real value to be delivered to the industrial players.

Q: As an R&D partner, how do you envision the XMANAI progress beyond the state of the art?

A: Explicability of AI decisions is one of the crucial aspects to focus research to enable real acceptance and exploitation of AI in Manufacturing Domain. Full integration between humans (operators, designers, business managers) and AI control processes is another important area addressed by the project.

Q: As a key member of the European Factories of the Future Research Association (EFFRA) and other relevant innovation ecosystems, how do you see XMANAI contributing to European policies and strategic documents?

A: Being AI one of the key technologies able to provide competitive advantages to European Industry, Politecnico di Milano is committed to bring outcomes to major decision and standardization bodies it is participating in order to better address and focus research in AI integration into operational processes. Politecnico di Milano is as well key player in Competence Centers and Innovation Hubs ecosystem where it is going to promote XMANAI results.