The Current and Future Impact of AI on Supply Chains
摘要
The buzz surrounding AI is as least as strong as any other technology in modern times. Because AI can be impressive with some tasks, there is a tendency to want to believe that it can do magical things, things that are not actually possible. Nevertheless, with the suite of AI technologies we have already seen significant improvements in forecasting and tactical decision-making. What we have not seen is completely new types of AI-enabled supply chains. Autonomous vehicles will transform the economics of transportation, and whenever that happens, new supply chains emerge. But an intriguing possibility for change comes from the ability of LLMs to radically decentralize decision-making in a supply chain. Rather than a limited set of costly people in charge of an ecosystem of distinct supply chain systems, it may be possible to scale to millions of virtual employees, each with the brain of an LLM. Doing so would make supply chains more robust and could lead to fundamentally different designs.