By the time this blog is live, my wife and I will have dropped our sons off at their college campuses. And at home, my daughter will be starting to plan where she might want to go to school and what she will study. Despite only being four years apart between youngest and oldest, my kids have significantly different considerations to make in regard to their studies—largely related to artificial intelligence (AI).
The difficulty here is that I’m also currently wondering what AI will do to the glass industry, manufacturing as a whole and even the construction industry. When it comes to AI, there are no clear-cut answers—whether it’s choosing a major or continuing to provide glazing solutions to multiple building sectors.
AI, entry level roles and navigating university
A few months ago, a Columbia student used AI to pass interviews to four of the biggest tech titans out there. The companies rescinded their offers once the student posted online what he had developed—Columbia even suspended him for a full year. In response, he started a company with the motto “cheat on everything.”
In terms of college, a lot of focus has been put on students offloading course work on AI. While I want my sons and daughter to learn and work in school, I’m worried about how to advise them on what to do to be competitive on the job market. Specifically, I’m thinking about how AI will impact the availability of entry level roles—which ones will remain, which will die out. The shifting nature of AI and how the technology will change the hiring process makes any certainty hard to find.
According to episodes of an All-In podcast, “Winning the AI Race,” the claims are staggering. Companies like Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Gecko Robotics are saying they can train people to run 10+ AI-powered manufacturing robots in just 30 days. And many of the guests advocate for STEM being the only viable field of study or that college is not even necessary—claiming they pulled Home Depot employees from stores and quickly readied them to supervise whole factories.
How do I guide my kids in this reality? What do I tell them to pursue officially and what to keep as a hobby?
Looking for help, I found that Microsoft recently published an article on 40 jobs least impacted by AI. Automotive Glass Installers and repairers made the list at number 8. As you would suspect, several roles with the term “operators” were on the list. There are central characteristics of jobs that seem more insulated:
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Physical presence and manual dexterity that AI cannot emulate
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Human empathy and interaction for patient care or service
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Real-world problem solving in unpredictable environments
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Specialized training with safety or liability implications
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Complex equipment operation requiring real-time judgment
AI and the glass industry
Thinking through the above list, the glass industry may seem mostly out of the range of AI impact. And for some sectors, this might be true. But manufacturing is different.
In the All-In podcast, Chris Power, the CEO of Hadrian Manufacturing, talks about how much more efficient and productive AI-powered manufacturing plants are. With just this soundbite, it’s easy to imagine that AI will shift how glass manufacturing happens—and what skills are most important to the industry. It’s more difficult to imagine what those changes might actually be.
While the specifics of how glazing systems are built (and possibly installed) may change drastically, Power says something interesting: these plants can be operated and managed by people with no background in manufacturing and with quick on-site training. I couldn’t help but think about how Technical Glass Products’ (TPG) team developed and continues to grow.
We participate in Manufacturing Day (MFG Day) every year to teach high school students and the community about opportunities in manufacturing; we invest in the next generation of manufacturers through internships and training programs; we support cross team movement and training. We like to see the people at TGP grow and develop according to their skills and interests.
In fact, I’d say curiosity about the whole manufacturing process—from specification to shipping—is a near necessity at TGP. It drives us, as a team, to innovate and find solutions where none existed before. This is what makes glass manufacturing such an exciting industry to be in. When architects wanted better energy performance, glass manufacturers stepped up with solutions. When schools and lawmakers started enhancing security, glass manufacturers found ways to harden buildings invisibly. The glass world is full of people who are curious about what this material can be made to do. Maybe curiosity is important for every manufacturing sector, no matter what’s being made.
Maybe curiosity is the answer to both helping my sons and daughter navigate their studies and for us navigating the changing nature of the manufacturing and construction world. If we stay curious, we’ll find the answers to whatever challenges us, whether it’s glazing or graduating.
