Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Guilty. Every December, I look at flights to Las Vegas for CES. My internal clock has a Las Vegas limit, but I also know that trying to squeeze more than 250 sessions and 2.5 million net square feet of exhibition space into three days is a monstrous task. No, I do not check in for all 250 sessions – but there are that many from which to choose, and while I do not know how many square feet of exhibition space I visited last year, I recorded an average of about eight miles walking each day at and between venues. So, each year I look at flight schedules and try to figure out how I can bend the gained and lost hours traveling between time zones and . . . end up taking the same flights I took the year before.
But in the end, it’s always worth it. And not because the AI-enabled spice dispenser or pet wearables or AI beauty solutions (I’m listening . . .). But more because of efforts to incorporate predictive toxicology for food production. Or AR add-ons for motorcycle helmets that allow riders to see upcoming curves in the road. Or FDA-approved smart shoes that execute gait analysis in real time and can aid physicians’ early detection of Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and other disorders. And sensors that provide seamless and unobtrusive real-time monitoring for elder care. And trainable avatars – not simply for gaming and entertainment, but for user interaction for commercial and medical purposes.
And in between the connected kitchen and the epidemiological gains empowered by AI-enabled healthcare are seemingly prosaic functions like robotic tools for advanced manufacturing. And this is where it gets interesting: robotic hands and arms with not only increasingly complex dexterity but also a generative AI component that continues to learn and react to human language commands. The FCC’s most recent Precision Ag Task Force report focuses in part on the use of automation and robotics to solve human labor shortages in ag. Likewise, the deployment of automated functions and robotics could enable advanced manufacturing opportunities in rural markets, creating demand for new high-skill jobs in the operation, maintenance, systems integration and programming of advanced systems. Lower input costs in rural areas including real estate and locally sourced support services can create built-in selling points as rural regions court manufacturers. And the ability of robots to help bridge labor shortages can help entrepreneurs, as well, creating additional benefits for rural spaces.
A recent study supported by NTCA and other organizations found that business growth rates are 213% higher and self-employment growth rates are 10% higher in rural areas that have high rates of broadband engagement; the report also found increases in per capita income and GDP growth rates. But pertinent to the instant discussion is that the report relied on other studies that found substantial correlations between business start-up activity and local economic resilience. Accordingly, technologies, including broadband-enabled apps and guided automation, that enable small firms to scale upward can be anticipated to produce positive economic gains for rural spaces.
While in many ways Las Vegas might be far from rural, in some respects it is a perfect place to demonstrate how cutting-edge technologies can bring profound benefits to rural spaces. Greater efficiencies and advancements in ag, healthcare and manufacturing can open new opportunities and improve quality of life and productivity in rural regions, enabling farms, factories and small businesses to affirm their contributions to national economic development. Generative AI to dispense the precise amount of oregano on my pizza? I’ll pass. But machine learning combined with large language models and robotics? Sign me up for another trip to Vegas.