AI and Manufacturing Redux

ITMS 2026Two years ago I attended the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago's McCormick Place and found a rather limited focus on artificial intelligence among the exhibitors. ITMS is back in town so I went again this week. A quiet respite from all the AI/math angst, though that will come in full view when mathematicians take over the same venue in January.I picked up my badge, the last to say "Illinois Tech" as I registered for a free academic pass well before the layoffs. Of course, you get to see all sorts of neat machines that make stuff but I tried to focus on where artificial intelligence plays a role. This time you could see AI everywhere, though as one exhibitor said, more of a marketing scheme than deep use of modern artificial intelligence. Real artificial intelligence did make appearances: vision recognition for robotic arms, backend software such as bid, invoice and document generation, predictive maintenance, and a variety of robotics, though mostly arms…