Mining is often thought of as an old-fashioned industry, but there is much more to it than a bunch of people digging!

Last year digital mining solutions company Nerospec Sk launched the survey How digital is your mine? and found out that 70% of participants expect digitalisation in the mining field to grow exponentially over the next few years. In this episode Luca meets CEO and founder of Nerospec Sk Dr Eric Pohlmann, and together they discuss how AI has helped increase productivity and safety in remote, underground sites, where working conditions are often extreme. 

Eric explains how the use of AI and computer vision have provided mines with effective digital communication solutions and have helped identifying risk areas and creating efficient traffic light systems. The next frontier in terms of digitalisation in the mining industry is the implementation of automation and robotics, while the main barrier is the lack of understanding that technology will not replace humans, but will help miners performing dangerous and tedious tasks and will create new and more exciting jobs.