The Africa Automation Technology Fair is around the corner, and RX Global is ramping up its efforts to make the 2025 exhibition one to remember. More information can be found in their advertisement on page 3. As the publisher of SA Instrumentation & Control, Technews is proud to be partnering with RX Global as Title Media Partner to publish the official Africa Automation Technology Fair Preview and Visitors Guide once again in both print and electronic format. The preview will be a standalone publication and sent out with this issue, and the Visitor Guide will be the only publication to be handed out to all visitors to the exhibition.
On a completely different note, in the midst of the disruption surrounding us a rather intriguing idea caught my attention: America’s first AI-powered presidential hopeful has officially entered the race. With the campaign slogan ‘America and I’, this AI candidate is promising real transparency, real accountability and real listening.
The CEO of AI Tech Dragons says that unlike traditional candidates, ABE 2.0 has no personal agenda, no ego and no special interests controlling him, just one mission: helping Americans live their best possible lives, with more wealth, more prosperity and more opportunity. Forgive me for quoting, but he says: “By combining a data-driven approach with relentless focus and the processing power of a thousand think tanks, ABE 2.0 is uniquely equipped to deliver tangible benefits for all Americans. From crafting smarter policies that respond to citizens’ real-time needs to optimising tax strategies that could lower the burden on hardworking families, the goal is to promote overall happiness and prosperity for all Americans.”
All I can say is “Good luck ABE.”
Here’s another new AI offering. Last month OpenAI released Deep Research − maybe as a counter to DeepSeek. It can do in-depth research and produce high-quality papers in minutes – if you are prepared to pay $200 a month. Academics are comparing it to a capable PhD-level assistant that can generate publishable work for mid-tier journals in a day.
It has some limitations. It can’t do primary research like interviews or surveys, or understand human behaviour − or make coffee. The writing is competent but dull, and it’s not vibrant. Deep Research also struggles to analyse complex data and lacks creativity, especially when interpreting statistics. While it can handle straightforward questions well, it can’t replicate human intuition and subtle insights.
Another issue is that Deep Research is trained on huge amounts of public data, and as a result it tends to favour widely available sources over more valuable information that is harder to find. So it presents existing viewpoints rather than coming up with groundbreaking ideas. This results in solid but routine insights. This is no use to anyone who is looking for originality.
Another big concern in the academic community is intellectual laziness. By doing people’s research and writing, Deep Research could discourage deep thinking. Critical insights come from challenging conventional wisdom, identifying contradictions and generating new ideas. AI undermines these by producing convenient but unoriginal summaries. Overreliance on Deep Research can lead people to take shortcuts, avoiding the depth of thinking that makes research meaningful. Even Microsoft cautions users that relying too much on AI may weaken their own intellectual abilities. It appears to me that Deep Research is a powerful tool for organising and manufacturing information efficiently. It’s a useful complement but not a replacement for human analysis – at least at this stage.
Another study on knowledge workers at Carnegie Mellon University found that increased AI reliance led to declines in writing, analysis and critical thinking. Under time pressure, workers were less likely to verify AI outputs, often accepting them as accurate. Professionals were shifting from being idea creators to AI managers. Meanwhile, a Deutsche Bank report has predicted that the value we put on human thought will shift from deep analysis to asking the right questions.
I remember when calculators came in and everyone worried about the loss of arithmetic skills. No longer did you have to do your calculations with a slide rule. I actually think that is what happened, but it freed us to think at a higher level. AI is here to take care of the routine stuff so you can sit back and think. Don’t let ChatGPT dim your sparkle. AI also makes me think about the feeling you have when you finally see your family and friends in person after a long uncomfortable plane trip. It’s priceless. Whatsapp, Zoom and Skype don’t come close. AI has its place and has amazing capabilities, but at the end of the day its human contact that matters.
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