Ask The Brewmasters

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  • 1.  The Future of Brewing with AI and Chat Bot, Etc

    Posted 05-16-2023 14:20

    OK-- I spend a lot of time listening to Bloomberg Radio (Of course MBAA Podcasts come first) and there is lots of Discussion about AI and things like Chat Bot. I confess I do not have a clue how they work and what they can deliver.

    So-Does AI have a future in the Brewing Industry? 

    chatbot.com

    I know there are a lot of really smart Suppliers, Brewers and Packaging people in our Association- therefore-I am hoping that someone can step up and address my question(s). Thank you. 

    Cheers

    Tom 



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    Tom Eplett
    Retired
    JT Eplett Brewing Technology Consulting LLC
    Arvada CO
    (336) 613-8625
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  • 2.  RE: The Future of Brewing with AI and Chat Bot, Etc

    Posted 05-17-2023 20:32

    Tom,

    I'm in the camp that believes AI will impact our daily lives at least 10x greater and 10x faster as compared to the internet in 19991

    AI is a massive category of things, but most of the hype is around Large Language Models (LLMs). LLMs are able to synthesize all the available information and answer a complex question with a single answer. Like a human. The LLMs also sometimes create hilariously incorrect answers much like some obnoxious people we've known in the past, but they continue to improve at a rapid pace. I use AI to get fast singular answers rather than synthesizing the information myself from multiple links and ads. I'm able to ask via voice and get more specific without repeating the previous information much like speaking to a knowledgeable person (As a side note, this will be extremely disruptive to Google's ad revenue business.) 

    One example of impacting brewing: The MBAA has a fantastic proprietary database that could potentially be monetized by employing a LLM. I'm not speaking about the redesign, but I've often found the MBAA's site to be cumbersome when searching for answers. Attaching an AI model to the MBAA, ASBC, Ask the Brewmasters, etc… could be powerful and extremely valuable if all the published MBAA papers could be fully searchable by a LLM. I envision "Ask the Brewmasters" with AI doing the research, but the brewmasters fact checking. It doesn't make us obsolete, but more productive. Just like Google helps us be more productive today. Especially important, is that the knowledge that has been shared is not lost. 

    Any proprietary data set has the capability to provide powerful and fast solutions in any industry.

    There are many other applications. I know an entrepreneur with an AI model with cameras. Possibly call it a Large Vision Model. The AI can inspect manufactured items with precise accuracy, and it can also observe people in a store and predict theft. The model gets better with more and more observations.

    As other advances in the past, there are certainly issues of concern that need to be worked through.

    This is a quick response to a massively complex question. I expect we'll see AI impact the brewing industry very soon. I can imagine allowing an LLM to process data real time on samples through every aspect of the brewing process. I would expect this to be adopted at the larger institutions, but sometimes they are slowest to adapt.

    I'm happy to discuss further any time. Please reach out.

    Cheers!

    -Garr


    1Internet search has grown to be part of our daily lives. According to Pew Research: In 2002, 45% of adults in the United States had access to the internet on a daily basis and Google only had 29% of the search engine market. In 2023, 90% of adults use the internet daily and Google has over 92% market share.



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    Garr Schwartz
    Founder
    Garr's Beer Co.
    Franklin TN
    (615) 509-0009
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  • 3.  RE: The Future of Brewing with AI and Chat Bot, Etc

    Posted 05-18-2023 21:18

    I've been working for one of the oldest A.I startups; https://cycorp.com as a database admin/developer for the past ~2.5 years.  I personally am not an ontologist or A.I. researcher, but I work very closely with a dozens of experts in A.I. who  have multiple degrees and decades of experience in the field, and we've had some interesting discussions about chatGPT.

    There are two basic types of A.I.  - symbolic A.I. which is what Cycorp does, and Machine Learning (ML) which is what chatgpt is.  There's a very big fundamental difference between the two; symbolic A.I. actually /reasons/ and can tell you /why/ it came to some conclusion, while ML systems can't.

    There is an awful lot of disinformation about it at the moment; after catching up on MBAA podcasts (keep 'em coming!!) I'd like to point MBAA members at two articles I've found really useful to understand what ML is:

    https://spectrum.ieee.org/gpt-4-calm-down

    and -- much more technical, but pretty accessible:
    https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/02/what-is-chatgpt-doing-and-why-does-it-work/

    -jay stanley
    -DBA, Cycorp








  • 4.  RE: The Future of Brewing with AI and Chat Bot, Etc

    Posted 05-22-2023 15:31

    Hi Tom, hope you're doing well!

    I just had a colleague email this article, and thought I would share with you and the rest of the MBAA group. 

    https://www.winemag.com/2023/05/09/chatgpt-beer/



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    Lauren Behrmann
    Technical Brewing Manager
    Mark Anthony Brewing
    Fort Worth TX
    lbehrmann@mabrewing.com
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