Artificial intelligence pushes decision-making to the edge. In January, Bloomberg News reported that Microsoft is investing $10 billion in OpenAI, a startup company specializing in artificial intelligence (AI). OpenAI is the maker of ChatGPT (an online chatbox) and other tools that can generate readable text and images in response to short prompts or questions. In terms of ready-mix concrete U.S.…
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A couple of issues ago, I wrote about how we are willing ourselves into a recession even as the economic indicators point in a different direction. In recent months, we have studied a large variety of economic indicators as we prepared to launch our AVP Pulse Index in cooperation with our sister publication, Rock Products. Like so many periods in…
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We are into a second decade of covering ready mixed and manufactured concrete producer response to construction market catalysts driving Environmental Product Declaration preparation and submittals: The Architecture 2030 Challenge (2012), compelling proof of lower embodied carbon materials or products in project specifications, and the U.S. Green Building Council LEED v4 standard (2014-16), the first broad-based mechanism incentivizing suppliers, producers…
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