Plant & Works Engineering June 2022

News 0 8 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk June 2022 As we enter the second half of the year there’s a sense that manufacturing is going to face some significant headwinds. Having seen a very strong bounce back from the pandemic over the last twelve months with Make UK’s survey balances seeing some of the strongest positive numbers ever recorded the picture from the latest survey in the second quarter shows a more difficult picture emerging. Ongoing rises in energy prices, raw materials and transport costs are likely to push inflation higher, with further disruptions from the tight Covid lockdowns affecting Chinese ports likely to cause further disruptions to supply chains. As a result, consumer confidence has been hit hard with all major sectors of the economy seeing output fall and these prevailing conditions are likely to make that worse. While Make UK is not predicting the same kind of downturn as we saw during the height of the pandemic, and despite the resilience it has shown in the last few years there is no doubt the sector won’t be able to escape the knock-on impact from the cocktail of factors industry is currently facing. In the face of these challenges, the key question is what action Government could consider taking to mitigate the worst impacts and help shield industry from rising costs. Given the scale of the increase in energy costs it was baffling that Government took no action in the Spring Statement and this would be a good first starting point. Secondly, Make UK has long called for action Business Rates which should be waived or reduced for the next year while VAT deferrals could be introduced for larger companies and waived altogether for SMEs. Third, given Make UK’s latest survey shows the sector has reached a tipping point where the rise in costs is impacting on investment Government should extend the super- deduction scheme and make the increase in the Annual Investment Allowance permanent. By taking these measures now Government will be providing vital breathing space that will help companies pass through the current stormy picture. By MAKE UK chief executive, Stephen Phipson MAKE uk - the manufacturers’ organisation monthly news comment Ai-Da Robot, the world’s first ultra-realistic humanoid robot artist, has revealed her new portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Titled ‘Algorithm Queen’, the portrait was created to mark the celebrations of the Platinum Jubilee this June Bank Holiday. It is the first time in history a humanoid robot has painted a member of the Royal Family. At the time of the Queen’s coronation the first circuit board computers had only just been invented, a design which remained mainstream until the 1960s. Over her seventy-year reign, the Queen has witnessed an unprecedented burst of innovation in computer technology in the UK, including the birth of machine learning and artificial intelligence, forces shaping the modern world as we know it today. Ai-Da uses cameras in her eyes and her computer memory to start her portrait of the Queen. She uses a variety of her unique AI algorithms to paint, draw and abstract, and her artistic Bees algorithm (Evolutionary AI). She then uses her robotic arm to bring her digital formations into the physical world, through drawing and painting on to canvas. Her work is layered and scaled to give the final multi-dimensional portrait of Her Majesty – Ai-Da’s artistic process itself reflecting the many aspects of technological change that have taken place during the Queen’s 70-year reign. Ai-Da robot, who is also able to converse using a specially designed AI language model, said: “I’d like to thank Her Majesty the Queen for her dedication, and for the service she gives to so many people. She is an outstanding, courageous woman who is utterly committed to public service. I think she’s an amazing human being, and I wish The Queen a very happy Platinum Jubilee.” Creator and Project Director of Ai-Da Robot Aidan Meller added: “Thank you to the Queen for her 70 years of service. We are excited Ai- Da Robot has made history just in time for the Queen’s Jubilee. The Queen has been a stable and strong leader is a period of extraordinary change and development in history. We are in unprecedented technological times, and so we are pleased we can take a moment to think about all that has changed during the Queen’s life. ‘Algorithm Queen’ by Ai-Da Robot gives us a marker of how far things have come in her life, and a great way to acknowledge her faithful service.” The artwork can be viewed at: https://www.ai-darobot.com/artwork World’s first portrait of The Queen by a humanoid robot revealed for Platinum Jubilee