Chapter 3: Sustainable Circular Production With Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

The chapter discusses the revolutionary power of artificial general intelligence (AGI) in developing a regenerative industrial future. It starts by the global environmental crisis into perspective by investigating depletion of resources, climate change and industrial waste and the circular economy (CE) as a dynamic solution. The chapter proceeds to explain how AGI will be central in Industry 5.0, where AGI would be the designer of circular systems that can redefine the principles of a CE, autonomous decision-making in resource symbiosis and predictive intelligence in zero-waste manufacturing. Subsequent sections address the essential implications of AGI on product design and materials, including the transition to on-demand production to reduce waste, the creation of sustainable composites and the production of self-healing products with longer life cycles. The introduction of the concept of neuromorphic manufacturing is proposed by directing energy-efficient AGI, real-time process optimisation in decentralised factories and adaptive production systems in dynamic sustainability. The chapter also discusses the social and economic aspects of sustainability, how AGI can help communities by the development of localised production and new types of economic models such as the Product-as-a-Service, and how it will require the transition of the workforce via reskilling programmes. Lastly, the chapter looks into the future of AGI in 2030 and beyond, as microfactories can become net-positive, and quantum computing and nanotechnology can synergistically enhance circularity. This is a thorough examination of why AGI will transform the industry and lead to sustainability and resilience in industrial operations never seen before.