Tyler Vigen is somewhat famous as a result of his Spurious Correlations Web site (and new book). He has identified numerous data sets that are highly correlated but clearly unrelated. Several examples of these are swimming pool deaths and Nicolas Cage films, the divorce rate in Maine and margarine […]
A Decision Needs to be Made
I have written here before about the some of the pitfalls with machine learning and artificial intelligence. There continues to be a misunderstanding about capabilities of artificial intelligence and allowing it to make difficult decision. As noted before, it is critical to understand how well your model fits […]
I have written here before about process creep. This happens when equipment is designed to a specific process condition, but over time, small changes are made to those process conditions. This becomes a problem when the original equipment is no longer suitable for the application. Scope creep is quite similar and IIoT efforts often […]
Context in Baseball
Growing up in St. Louis during the 1980s, it was hard not to be a Cardinals fan. They made their first appearance of the decade in 1982 and appeared again in 1985 and 1987. The 1982 Series against the Brewers was exceptionally memorable, not only because they won, but because it […]
Can you see what the computer sees?
In a recent study expert ophthalmologists were asked to determine the sex of a patient only looking at a picture of a retina. They were correct roughly 50% of the time, which is about as good as guessing. They then used an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to […]
Artificial intelligence, along with big data and the industrial internet of things (IIoT), is receiving its fair share of attention. Often times it is presented as the downfall of some dystopian future in movies like The Terminator or The Matrix. But the vast majority of AI applications have led to tremendous improvements (think […]
I admit it. I am a fan of South Park. At the start of the show, the creators warn us that the show should not be watched by anyone. And yet, I love it. On of my favorite episodes is Gnomes. In this episode, Tweak is plagued by the […]
Occam’s Razor
The concept of Occam’s Razor was introduced into our modern lexicon by Jodie Foster‘s character in the movie Contact. William of Ockham, after whom the concept is named, was a 13th century theologian and philosopher noted that, when given two solutions to a problem, the simpler one is more […]
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has received a significant amount of attention over the past several years. Most every company involved in automation and control has some kind of message around IIoT and how it can lead to improved operational performance. But with all of this activity, […]
I started this blog in 2011 when I was with Emerson Automation Solutions (Emerson Process Management at the time). Since then I have moved to a role focused on SCADA, MES, manufacturing intelligence and IIoT. I still maintain that asset reliability and availability is a robust strategy in a global economy. […]
