Hi all,

I’ve been looking into how AI could be used in industrial automation, mainly for analysing sensor data and tweaking processes. Has anyone here tried using AI to spot faults on production lines or predict machine issues from historical data? I’m also curious about whether anyone’s experimented with auto-generating reports from SCADA or HMI systems, and what sort of headaches that brought along. Does integrating AI into PLC or SCADA setups tend to cause a lot of security or compatibility issues?
Would be great to hear your thoughts, any advice or experiences would be really useful as I try to get my head around this.

 

AI is increasingly used for predictive maintenance, everything from vibration, temperature, and pressure monitoring to anomaly detection in SCADA, yielding 30–60% reductions in downtime and extended machine life. Platforms like Siemens TIA Portal with Industrial Edge enable real-time AI-driven alerts and corrections at the edge.
However, integrating AI brings challenges: legacy systems, data quality, cybersecurity risks, and skills gaps remain significant hurdles. Redditors mention concerns over the “black-box” nature of AI and risk exposure, particularly when embedding AI into control loops, though lighter, read-only analytics or edge-inferenced models offer lower-risk paths.