September 26, 2024 Training Engineers for Industry 4.0 with Digital Humans

Digital humans can help crucially in training engineers and addressing the skills gap in the manufacturing sector, facilitating Industry 4.0.

by Tyler Merritt, Field CTO, UneeQ

Although the US manufacturing and industrial sectors are enjoying substantial growth, there is a major challenge every company in the industry will face soon. That challenge is the need for more skilled workers.

BCG predicts that the US will need about 400,000 new engineers. BCG also notes that this next generation lacks requisite skills, which could potentially cause one in three engineering roles to remain unfilled each year through at least 2030.

In light of the need for more adequately skilled workers, it is no surprise that learning and development leaders believe current employee training methods need to be more effective to achieve Industry 4.0, or the functional threshold one crosses once a facility reaches a sufficient maturity in technology usage.

Education 4.0 and Digital Humans

Intrinsically connected to Industry 4.0 is Education 4.0, a vision for the future of education that leverages advanced technology, automation and innovative teaching methods to enhance learning. A staple of Education 4.0 is next-generation intelligent interfaces. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), these interfaces use conversational avatars, aka digital humans, to speak, guide and educate people in real-time, bringing learning to life for employees requiring new skills and proficiencies.  

As it stands, current learning methods are not conducive to information retention, mainly because there are few opportunities for employees to apply their training in life-like settings. Back in the 1880s, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered that people forget 50% of information within an hour of learning it, 70% within 24 hours and 90% within a week. This rapid loss is likely because if people don’t have a chance to apply what they learned, their brains will determine the information is not important and jettison it.

Unlike traditional learning methods, custom-trained digital humans allow engineers and employees to practice and hone their skills in realistic roleplay scenarios that reflect what teams might encounter in the real world. In addition to educating via the written and spoken word, digital humans employ kinesthetic learning, or “learning by doing,” as well as on-screen visuals for those more visually-inclined learners, promoting maximal information retention.

Supporting Personalized Learning  

In Education 4.0, there is an emphasis on personalization, with learners progressing at their own pace, guided by their interests. Of course, there are certain Industry 4.0-related skills that those in the industrial sector – namely, automotive – will want their employees to learn, such as the ability to use AI, additive manufacturing (specifically 3D printing) and augmented reality. However, some of these capabilities exist in a gray area. While it would be nice for employees to know how to use 3D printing technology for part prototyping, it is not essential (at least not yet) for many engineering roles.

As such, digital humans can provide personalized learning experiences that explore the automotive employee’s unique interests and career aspirations. Research shows that when people care about the information they are learning, an emotional connection causes the brain to release dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins, making the training more meaningful and engaging.

Thankfully, best-in-class digital human solutions use guardrails to ensure the training material is consistent and on-topic, even if it is individualized. Likewise, managers can impute guidelines, product information and brand language to the digital humans to ensure the content they generate is always company-specific. For example, engineers working at Ford won’t receive any training material concerning Tesla vehicles and vice versa. 

The Advantages of Training Through Digital Humans  

Digital humans make knowledgeable instructors, helping employees retain more information at a personalized level while avoiding costly retraining. They ask questions, provide insightful feedback, simplify complex ideas and gently correct trainees when they make mistakes. They can repeat themselves an infinite number of times without losing consistency or getting frustrated and will never judge a trainee for asking a silly or obvious question.

Another benefit of learning through digital humans is that employees train within a controlled environment where they can make mistakes without jeopardizing projects, deadlines or productivity. This risk-free setting is ideal for onboarding new hires – especially those out of college. In fact, a focus of Education 4.0 is bridging the skills gap between university students and the working world.

The advantage of closing this skills gap is twofold. First, companies will build teams capable of harnessing the power of Industry 4.0; secondly, they will attract and retain top talent to join their company. The battle for talent is particularly fierce in the automotive industry, which is currently experiencing a skilled worker shortage. Bright engineers recognize that to be competitive as professionals, they need to develop new skills, and training through digital humans represents the perfect opportunity for them.  

Confidently Tackling Tomorrow’s Challenges

For businesses to achieve Industry 4.0, they must incorporate Education 4.0, its methods and technologies – and lean into next-gen intelligent interfaces. This adoption will empower their workforce to confidently overcome the challenges of the ever-changing and uncertain future.

About the Author:
Tyler Merritt is a technology evangelist focused on spreading knowledge and enthusiasm to help others see the same vision of the future that he sees, and empower them with the connections and opportunity to help build it. As VP of Platform at UneeQ, he works on conversational AI using digital humans to add emotion to each customer interaction. Leveraging a wide range of developer experience, he brings technical knowledge and understanding across multiple organizations to the continued betterment of the digital human platform. He is driven to ensure every experience with an organization is a brand-led experience.

Subscribe to Industry Today