In this episode, Colin Russ sits down with Brian Keith (CMO of Chang Robotics) to have an honest conversation about what LLMs actually do inside manufacturing businesses, why they lie constantly, and what the five levels of AI adoption mean for every factory owner and job shop in America. 

If you care about AI, manufacturing, operations, small business, or the future of the American workforce, this one is for you. 

What we cover 

• Why every LLM lies, how often it happens, and why telling it to stop doesn't work 
• The difference between machine learning and large language models, and why conflating them is costing manufacturers money 
• How to use adversarial AI, citation requirements, and human layers to reduce hallucinations in production environments 
• Why local models aren't good enough yet and what the real opportunity cost is of trying to build your own 
• The five levels of AI adoption, and why the AI level five company that shows up over a weekend is the real threat no one is talking about 

Chapters 

00:00 LLMs Lie in Production 

00:25 AI Hype vs Manufacturing Reality 

05:46 Why AI Lies and What to Do About It 

16:21 Local Models and Human Layers 

25:19 The Five Levels of AI Adoption 

Guest: Brian Keith, CMO at Chang Robotics 

Find Brian Keith: 

https://x.com/BrianKeithAI

https://www.linkedin.com/in/BrianKeithAI 

Find Chang Robotics: 

https://changrobotics.ai

https://www.linkedin.com/company/changrobotics/ 

Find Colin Russ: 

https://x.com/ThaaatColin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinruss/ 

Follow ReForge 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-reforge-podcast/ 

X: https://x.com/thereforgepod 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereforgepod/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thereforgepod 

Website: https://thereforgepodcast.com/ 

Want to be a guest or partner? 

If you're building, funding, operating, or shaping the future of U.S. manufacturing, we'd love to hear from you. Email: [email protected] 

About ReForge 

ReForge is a podcast featuring conversations with the leaders reindustrializing America. This show exists to prove American reindustrialization is possible, pivotal, and pressing. Hosted by Matthew Chang and Colin Russ. 

Produced by Chang Robotics.