4 replies to this topic

[TimG]

".....explore AI’s role in food safety"   

 

 

Please no 

[GMO]

Why not?  I think there are potential topics AI or machine learning could support.

 

So for example:

 

• Interpretation of video data for non compliance, e.g. with storage requirements.  Imagine if that was also used to feedback in the moment?
• Interpretation of metrics for developing non conformity.  E.g. I've seen several incidents where looking in retrospect there were signs within a site which on their own weren't that impactful but together painted a different picture.  That could help direct resources to where it matters. It could identify learning gaps in the team and behaviours before they lead to risks.
• Generation of SOPs from videos.  Scribe is there already for computer based SOPs but imagine if you could just video someone cleaning and then get it interpreted into a cleaning instruction card?  
• Then imagine the compliance side.  How much time is spent auditing and pushing to comply.  Imagine if line checks become more and more automated.  So with vision systems a lot is already there but as it gets better, the monitoring could become continuous.
• Then even if some of the auditing process is still manual, what if you could take a photo and have it interpreted as to what is wrong, what the non conformance is vs. the standard uploaded but what's more, help the auditee with the corrective and preventive actions?

[tadelong]

I am significantly more pessimistic.

[GMO]

There are certainly reasons to be pessimistic.  Of course it could be used as a excuse reason to cut resource.  But also a lot of what quality and food safety does is routine.  If (and I do appreciate I'm probably in cloud cuckoo land here) but if it gives me more time to talk to and influence people and coach team members and also get to the point on what needs urgent attention and what can wait, that would be a marvellous thing indeed.

[jfrey123]

There is potential here for streamlining processes, but like any other piece of equipment, I would predict that we would be forced to show validations that the AI tools is capable and calibrated to the tasks we utilize them for.

 

Back at my first job in spices, we had a sister plant next door that ran a dry steam sterilization chamber.  Circa 2012, they had just gotten SQF certified, and were still having frequent customer audits.  One customer sent a couple of gals with a background in pharma auditing, and while they were super kind and understanding with our replies they knew a lot more than we did.  When we mentioned our CCP was time and temp, we were fully ready to dive into the calibration and monitoring of the thermoprobes, but they hit me with asking for validation on the timers.  We were like "oh, the computer handles the time automatically as it runs the program," they replied, "how do you know it's actually holding for 20 minutes when your CCP states 20 minutes."  Crap ladies, I dunno, should I call Bill Gates and ask if the clock in Windows is accurate?

 

So yeah, if they start integrating AI with GFSI, I expect to see a bunch of niche service providers offering AI tools for food safety.  Be cautious jumping in to use them, as validating their effectiveness will be a hot topic with your auditors.